CHICKWEED

As A Food

Chickweed is a highly nutritious herb and grows as a wildweed, what a gift! Thats right dont get cranky at her popping up around your favourite garden beds, thank her.  Containing calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, silicon, zinc, vitamins  C, A, B she is ideal as a food for growing kids, the elderly, heck anyone who needs a good burst of nutrition in their diet, and really simple to add in to your favourite dishes.

Much like spinach or other salad greens we can add chickweed to salads, soups, green smoothies, juice, spreads, dips the list goes on. We can get the healing benefits of this little baby just by using her in the kitchen. (Google some recipes there are a bunch out there).

If you have a slow juicer chickweed is a perfect spring green to juice, with her earthy taste be careful of the enthusiastic overkill. I blended with carrots and green apple which was pretty nice.

As a Medicine

Chickweed is a Cooling, Moisturising, Restoring, Nourishing, and Softening herb.

Externally chickweed is well known as a topical herb for hot itchy skin, usually excemea, and is found in many natural balms and salves. Im making some now which will be avaiable soon at my clinic, local markets and via my website.

Internally we use chickweed as a cleansing herb. It softens lumps like cysts and boils, drawing them out in what is traditionally known as a blood cleanser. You can use chickweed in this case carbunkles, fibrocystic breast, poly cystic ovaries (PCOS) aim to use for at least one blood cycle of 12 weeks up to a year.

Clearing the lymphatic system of toxicity, we can use whenever we have those swollen lymph glands that go on for just that bit too long.

When we use the traditional words ‘to moistens dryness’ This happens by generating fluids in the body which have become sluggish or almost non existent. Here we think of things like a dry unproductive cough,  a ‘dry digestive system’ which presents as dry, pebble like stools,  Gastric acid causing peptic ulcers, a dry mouth and throat.

With her wonderful nutrient content we use chickweed in medicinal strengths to treat fatigue, anaemia, malabsorption issues. Chickweed is wonderful for the elderly or anyone convalesencing after major illnesses.

Traditionally Chickweed is used for rheumatism and we can see the pattern here with clearing heat, increasing moisture and feeding the body great nutrition

Now arent you glad she decided to pop up in your garden?

Sending oodles of green love

 xx

Below is eposide 13 of Ally On Herbs where I talk more on this divine herb.