{"id":2162,"date":"2019-10-09T05:03:03","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T05:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=2162"},"modified":"2019-10-09T05:03:09","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T05:03:09","slug":"chickweed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/09\/chickweed\/","title":{"rendered":"Chickweed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stellaria media<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caryophyllaceae<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been suggested that Chickweed may be the commonest\nplant on earth. It has spread far from its native Eurasia and is now found\naround the world. The plants delicate appearance is deceiving, as this is one\nof the hardiest of all annuals. It can survive temperatures as low as 10 \u2109<\/strong> and in chilly 40-degree\nweather will produce a luxuriant green carpet. The plant is actually happiest\nin such cool temperatures, as the cold suppresses larger plants that would\notherwise overwhelm them. It usually disappears altogether in hot weather.\nAnother factor in the plants success is its fast growth; it can grow from seed\nand produce seed of its own in as little as thirty days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greens: Chickweed is highly regarded as a\nsource of wild greens. It is common, easily identified, mildly flavored, rich\nin vitamin C and in mild climates will provide food right through the winter.\nThe tender growing tips can be used as a base for a fine salad, simply add pungent, sour and\naromatic leaves to give more flavor. They are also an attractive garnish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young tops can also be used as a potherb, though you will need to\ngather a lot, as it shrinks when cooked. The tops of older plants can also be\nused as a potherb, though you may need to discard the tougher stems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dried plant has been powdered\nand added to baked goods to add nutrients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seed: Chickweed seed can be sprouted like\nAlfalfa, or ground to meal for baking. You might be able to gather the seed by\nuprooting the plants and leaving them to dry out as for Purslane (see Portulaca<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medicine: The leaves were once commonly used\nas a poultice, or ointment, for burns and to stop bleeding. The potherb is a mild\nlaxative and has been eaten as a spring tonic to purify the blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animal food: As the common name suggests the\nplant is an important food for birds and was once fed to domestic chickens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivation: Wherever you live in North\nAmerica, you probably have the plant growing near you at some time in the year.\nLook for it in cool weather, when it will be one of the last green growing\nplants. Chickweed could easily be grown from seed, but there seems little\npoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related\nspecies include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S. pubera<\/em> \u2011 Star Chickweed      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

S. jamesiana<\/em> \u2011 Sticky Starwort<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use\nas above. The latter species also produces edible tubers, that can be eaten raw\nor cooked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stellaria media Caryophyllaceae It has been suggested that Chickweed may be the commonest plant on earth. It has spread far from its native Eurasia and is now found around the … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-useful-weeds","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Plantain-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2162"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2164,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162\/revisions\/2164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}