Chickwort is often mistaken for a weed - but in fact chickweed is not only edible, but also extremely useful.
Almost every gardener knows the common chickweed (Stellaria media): The inconspicuous plant, which is also known as chickweed or chicken intestine, likes to spread on fallow vegetable beds or in Lawn out - to the displeasure of many garden lovers. They see chickweed in the garden primarily as a weed that has to be painstakingly removed. On the other hand, only a few people know the numerous positive properties of the common chickweed: the plant is not only edible, but also has a healing effect and can be extremely useful in the garden. Here we tell you how to recognize chickweed and how to use it in the garden.
Detect Chickweed
Newcomers often overlook chickweed in the garden - no wonder, after all, the delicate herb is rather inconspicuous. However, if you look closely, you can soon discover the herb in yourself. Chickweed is particularly adaptable and can therefore be found all over Germany on fields, in gardens, parks or along the way. Anyone looking for chickweed should pay attention to certain identifying features: Chickweed grows to a height of about 10 to 40 cm and usually forms flat carpets. Chickweed blossoms all year round in mild weather, with large numbers of small, white flowers that only open when the weather is good. Another feature that makes chickweed easy to recognize is its leaves: These are small, oval and pointed and sit in pairs opposite each other on the thin, soft stem of the plant. The plant also has what is known as a hairline on its stems, which means that a line of fine, soft hairs runs the full width of one side of the stem.
Where does Chickweed grow?
- Occurrence throughout Germany
- Common in farmland, parks, gardens and along roadsides
- Prefers nitrogen-rich,wet soils
- Copes with both sunny and shady places
What does chickweed look like?
- 10 to 40 cm high
- Growing in flat carpets
- Numerous small white flowers seen throughout the year in mild weather
- Oval, pointed and small leaves, which are found in pairs on opposite sides of the stem
- Thin, soft stems with a hairline
Risk of confusion: Unfortunately, picking chickweed can lead to confusion with other wild herbs. Chickweed is particularly often confused with other chickweed species such as the water chickweed (Stellaria aquatica) or the grove chickweed (Stellaria nemorum). Fortunately, this mix-up isn't a bad thing, since both types of chickweed are perfectly edible, even if they don't taste like chickweed. Common chickweed (Anagallis arvensis) is also often referred to as false chickweed: this primrose plant is slightly poisonous and can cause headaches, nausea and circulatory problems if ingested. However, especially during the flowering period, field gauze is easy to distinguish from chickweed, as it has orange instead of white flowers. In addition, the chickweed has the so-called hairline , while this does not occur in the field puffball.
Uses of chickweed: Can you eat chickweed?
For a long time, chickweed was considered a weed - but recently chickweed has been marketed as a real insider tip on the plate and is even offered in starred restaurants. The mild, spicy taste of the herb is vaguely reminiscent of young corn on the cob and inspires many. Chickweed recipes in particular, such as a chickweed salad, but also smoothies, herb butter or pesto are now real insider tips and a real treat for the palate. Chickweed is not only suitable for eating raw - the herb can also be steamed and eaten like spinach. The plant not only impresses with its taste, because the chickweed is also extremely he althy: the plant contains many important vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, potassium, phosphorus, copper and silicic acid. In addition, just 50 g of chickweed cover the daily requirement of vitamin C for a person - this makes the plant one of the vegetables and herbs rich in vitamin C. Chickweed also contains the ingredient aucubin, which is said to have a positive effectaffects the immune system and is intended to slow down the aging process. Chickweed is particularly well-known in naturopathy for its he alth-promoting effects and is used to treat numerous diseases - for example rheumatism, respiratory infections or bladder diseases. Chickweed tea is a popular home remedy. For this, a tablespoon of the dried chickweed is brewed with 250 ml of boiling water and left to steep for five to eight minutes.
But the chickweed is not only used in the house - the plant can also be a useful enrichment in the garden. As the name suggests, birds in particular are particularly fond of the plant. Chickweed seeds provide a valuable food source for all sorts of garden birds, making the herb an uncanny asset for birds. In fact, chickweed was a popular chicken feed for a long time and even today, the chickens in the garden, as well as domestic birds such as budgerigars, are very happy about the nutritious snack. Chickweed also has a positive effect on soil life in the garden: as a ground cover, it protects the soil from drying out or being washed out and thus contributes to maintaining a he althy soil. Since the plant is particularly persistent and hardy, it is also suitable for winter planting in beds.
Planting chickweed in the garden
If you want to grow chickweed in the garden yourself, you don't need to be afraid of a lot of work and care: the tireless and robust herb grows almost everywhere and needs almost no attention. While the plant grows in both sunny and partially shaded locations, when it comes to soil, it prefers substrates that are rich in nitrogen. In soils that are particularly low in nitrogen, it is therefore advisable to improve the soil beforehand with compost, horn shavings or an organic fertilizer with a long-term effect, such as our Plantura organic universal fertilizer. If you don't already have some chickweed in your garden, you can simply harvest the seeds for cultivation from wild plants. Chickweed seeds can then be sown directly into the bed. Then the seeds are covered with about 5 mm of soil and watered thoroughly. Incidentally, there is a wide range of times for sowing chickweed: during the vegetation period between March and the end of September, the plants can easily grow in thebe sown outdoors.
But not only sowing the chickweed is very simple, the plant also requires hardly any care - only in hot summers is it important to ensure that the plant is sufficiently watered. However, the chickweed is very keen to reproduce, so it can spread quickly in the bed. In order to prevent propagation through self-sowing, the plants should always be cut off before seed formation.
Chenchicks can be harvested all year round. Either the young shoot tips or the entire plant are separated about 2 to 3 cm above the ground. The plant parts left in the ground will normally sprout again without any problems and can be harvested again after a few weeks. Chickweed is best used fresh, but it can also be dried or frozen.
Growing chickweed in the garden:
- Location: Sunny to shady, pot or outdoors
- Soil: nitrogen-rich, preferably moist substrates
- Sowing: March to September
- Sow seeds broadcast, cover with 5 mm of soil and then water
- Water when dry
- Harvest possible all year round
Tip: If you don't have a bed available, you can easily cultivate Chickweed in pots both outside and on the windowsill. A nutrient-rich potting soil such as our peat-free Plantura organic universal soil is particularly suitable for this.
Control chickweed as a weed
Although chickweed offers many advantages in the garden, it can sometimes spread into areas where it is undesirable. If you want to keep your beds free of wild plants, you have several options for combating chickweed:
Weeds such as chickweed can be removed particularly gently with the proven weeding. When weeding, it is important to ensure that you remove the plant along with its roots.
The hoeing of the chickweed works well because of the flat roots - the plants can simply be left on the ground or on paths where they dry out.
Tip: Alternatively, you can also collect the chickweed removed by hoeing or weeding for your own consumption, put it on the compost or leave it for the birds . In any case, however, it is extremely important to remove the plants before flowering in order toto avoid seed spread.
If the continuous weeding is too strenuous, you can use other means. A proven way to avoid chicken gut infestation as a weed is to deprive it of the habitat it needs. This can be done in two ways: On the one hand, you can use other plants to close gaps in the garden where chickweed likes to spread. For planting under bushes and shrubs, for example, groundcover are very suitable for the shade. Where planting with ground cover is difficult, for example between plants in vegetable beds, a layer of mulch can also reduce weed pressure and minimize the growth and spread of chickweed.
If chickweed appears in the lawn, scarifying and regular mowing can help. While the plant is well caught and pulled out of the ground when scarifying, regular mowing prevents the chickweed from flowering and thus suppresses the further spread of the plant. Gaps caused by chickweed in the lawn should be closed as soon as possible, for example with our Plantura lawn repair, so that no new chickweed can settle there.
What to do against chickweed:
- Regular weeding or hoeing of the beds
- Close gaps in the bed with ground cover
- Cover gaps in the bed with mulch
- If there is chickweed in the lawn: Scarify and mow the lawn. Reseed gaps as soon as possible
Would you like to learn more about unusual types of vegetables for the garden? Here you will find all the information about the previously unknown but absolutely delicious strawberry spinach.