Cheeping Chickweed

First, let me just say yes, chickweed (Stellaria media) tastes good—like if butter lettuce and alfalfa sprouts had a baby… but it’s a pain to harvest and harvest enough of it to justify making a salad. However, if you have nothing to do and are watching little children so they do not accidentally murder themselves in the garden, it would be a time consuming activity that you can do to wile the minutes away.

I was watching my progeny today and found I had a rather large patch of them growing around my yard and garden bed. I don’t and haven’t sprayed weed killer in years so certain edible weeds are given free rein in areas I haven’t cultivated yet. I tend not to buy salad greens once the growing season starts because there are just so many edible things out there already.

Grabbed a bag and began pinching the tender, crisp segmented stems. I also collected some lovely young dandelion greens to mix in. Unlike a lot of other wild greens, chickweed is not bitter nor does it have any particular “special” flavor. As I told my husband, it tastes like a lettuce sprout hybrid and you won’t be able to tell the difference, even though he was slightly worried about it at first. Due to it’s rather blank flavor profile I made a quick and easy, but refreshingly delightful Cobb salad. I added a garbanzo bean salad (made with my preserved lemon puree and the basil I planted), a hardboiled duck egg, bacon bits, and gorgonzola. Alas, no avocados or cucumbers just yet.

It is, albeit unfairly, considered a weed in much of the US–unlike lettuce though, it grows happily from spring through the fall, regardless of the heat. I leave it alone to let it do its thing, since it doesn’t bother anybody, growing unassumingly in my garden. It can be found in sun and shade, and in many different growing zones. Poultry and birds love it, although it does contan a small level of saponins that can be toxic if you eat it in large quantities (we’re talking pounds.)

Chickweed is relatively easy to identify, with their creeping growth habits and lovely tiny white flowers. However, it is always best to be cautious and check with someone if you aren’t certain!