Loving my Weeds
I spent a little time outdoors today. It was nice to get some fresh air as our temps have been pretty low recently and even though it was overcast, it was warm enough to be enjoyable.
My mission was chickweed. A few weeks ago an angel of mercy disguised as a bank rep called, and upon hearing my cough and learning we were recovering from the crud offered some down home advice: Chickweed tea. Actually, chickweed tea with lime.
It wasn't the first time I'd heard that this lowly pest had value. Initially learning that it was rich in nutrients and edible didn't promt me to go out and eat it, but this time I had a need. I was hacking like crazy trying to clear my chest, and nothing was coming up.
God knew, and had a huge wad of chickweed waiting by the door, hanging out of a flowerpot, when I got home. I rinsed it and laid it on a rack over the broiler pan on the wood stove. It was dry in no time.
Making tea was a bit frightening. I used a tea ball and full well expected it to taste like crap, but it didn't. It had sort of a greenish taste, but a teaspoon of lime overpowered it . . . and of course I sweetened it with honey.
It worked! It worked great, and it didn't take long to learn to like the stuff! I'm hooked now, and don't want to be without a good supply of dried chickweed in case we ever have that need again . . . which is why I was searching around the property for a good stand of the stuff.
My search was not in vain. Not only did I find a good amount of chickweed, I was thrilled to find a few stinging nettle growing by a rock pile at the edge of the garden. I left them alone for the time being as I don't have an immediate need. That way they can grow nice and big for me, and hopefully reproduce.
The other thing I found was dandelion. Lots and lots of dandelion. I'll be gathering some of it in the near future too as my dh is already talking about getting the garden dug up for late winter planting.
Those last few moments outside provided a kind of epiphany. As I surveyed the mess left over from the last garden I realized that many of the plants inhabiting that space now are every bit as valuable as the vegetables we had harvested months earlier. Any other year I would have used roundup on them or tossed them root and all in the garbage. Now they were like gifts from God that I had never wanted, let alone appreciated. And they were everywhere.
Yeah, I love my weeds.
2 comments:
I eat chickweed (Stellaria media) raw quite often, almost daily. The young plants are delicious if you like greens, and the flowers, and unopened buds are a little bit sweet.
I've never tried it in tea, as drying and heat will destroy some of the nutrients. Chickweed has mucilaginous properties meaning it will make you salivate, might make your nose run, and will make your lungs produce mucous that will aid with any dry cough.
Whenever I'm taking a break from work, and I find some in the yard or flowerbed, I always munch a few tops. It's one of my favorite snacks!
It is one of the great persistent weeds that can last all through winter, tho I can't say it produces much pollen or nectar.
I'll have to take a picture of my stand of S. media that surrounds the wife's bouganvilla.
As it is a low-grower, it makes excellent ground cover, while not being in competition with our cultivated plants. It is much less a pest than the poison manufacturers and sellers would have us believe.
Interesting on the mucus producing properties as that's exactly opposite of what it actually does, in conjunction with lime and honey of course. I wonder how the lime plays into it's effectiveness, or if drying somehow changes that.
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