In my files I have some items regarding chickweed from various persons
that may be of interest to you:
Chickweed is one of my favorite wild vegetables. It has a mild flavor
and the whole plant is edible and highly nutritious. It contains enough
Vitamin C to be considered antiscorbutic (treats scurvy), and is also
high in the B vitamins, iron, and the somewhat rare trace mineral
copper.
You can harvest it by cutting or pulling at ground level. If you want
it to grow back, though, pinch off the tops only. The stems are as good
as the leaves. You can also eat the flowers and seedpods. Like I said
earlier, the whole plant. Eat it raw in salads -- my favorite salad is
chickweed and watercress -- or cook it for 2-5 minutes. It cooks almost
instantly. Euell Gibbons (in Stalking the Healthful Herbs) tells about
a very healthy family he knows that eats chickweed every day. They eat
it raw in salds and make it into a "Green Drink" by mixing it in a
blender with water and whatever other greens are available. You can
cook it into quiche (cook first, then drain thoroughly, even rolling it
between two paper towels to get out as much liquid as possible). Throw
it into chicken broth instead of or in addition to noodles or rice.
It's available year roud hereabouts, and can be found growing under the
snow.
Medicinally, it is diuretic (mildly) and some people swear it speeds up
the metabolism if eaten daily and will help in weight loss. I tried it
and it didn't work for me, but trying it will do no harm. Externally,
it is used in poultices and ointments. Some experts claim it to have
mild antibiotic properties.
Latin name: Stellaria media, member of the Pink Family, related to
carnations. --Deborah Duchon
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Chick weed Stellaria media, also known as star weed or herbal slim.
This contains saponins which have anti-inflammatory effects similar to
cortisone according to many herbalists, but is much milder and without
side effects. It is used to treat skin irritations and rashes. Some use
it for Eczema
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regarding Chickweed for eczema:
Chickweed oil/salve sometimes seems to exacerbate both the itchiness
and the extent of rashes on me, no matter what the cause--bug bites,
food reaction, my keratosis pilaris--so I know it's not just fungi
eating the oil. These days I keep the chickweed for the itch of
almost-peelable scabs. -- Persi M.
---leo/lee