Folk Healing - Chickweed

 

    Chickweed, stellaria media, is truly a star of spring tonics and foods. It is edible and medicinal and loved by chickens, as the name suggests, as well as other farm animals.

    Chickweed is a common low-growing annual that can be found in most parts of the world. Leaves are opposite, growing along stems that lie close to the ground.

    An early spring plant, it will die back in summer's heat and may return in lesser quantities in autumn's cool. 

    Its stems have a line of hairs, like a "mohawk" along one side only, and a core. Snap a couple of inches off a stem and pull and there will be a long thready core inside.

    The flower is tiny, five petaled, but each petal is separated down the middle, making it look like there are ten tiny daisy-like petals. The seed pods form soon after flowers appear. Chickweed is self-seeding and seeds can be collected for planting elsewhere in the garden.

MEDICINAL USES:

    This may be a tiny plant, but it is a powerhouse of nutrients and healing properties, and its saponins help us absorb its nutrients, especially minerals. 

It is high in 

• chlorophyll
• minerals (calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron, phosphorus, and potassium)
• vitamins (A, Bs and folic acid, C)

    Chlorophyl is especially useful when we are low in iron or B12 because it is extremely close chemically to hemoglobin. Iron (from supplements or foods) has to have somewhere to go or we just eliminate it. Iron binds to hemoglobin. The more hemoglobin we have the more iron we can absorb. Chlorophyll helps the body make hemoglobin.

    Although it has many medicinal properties and actions, one of the most beneficial is its ability to break down unwanted matter in the body such as fats, disease-causing bacteria, cysts, benign tumors, and thickened mucus in respiratory and digestive systems. 

    This is a real fat burner, so many people who are trying to lose weight use a chickweed tincture for faster results.

    The tincture is also used for

• rheumatism & arthritis
• digestive issues - colitis, constipation, stomach cancer
• glandular and lymphatic system support

    The salve made from chickweed helps with

• rashes like roseola and measles 
• shingles, hives, blisters, & eczema
• nerve pain
• cold sores
• diaper rash

HARVESTING AND PREPARATIONS:

    Chickweed is best used fresh, but it can be frozen for later use. Dried chickweed is ineffectual for medicinal purposes. It can be made into tinctures or salves during spring. Harvest it by lifting stems off the ground and trimming it like you are giving it a haircut.    

    To make a tincture, fill a jar (a pint or quart) with fresh material coarsely cut with clean scissors. The jar should be full but not packed tightly. Pour 100 proof vodka into the material until it covers the plant. Use a chopstick to work around the material, releasing bubbles of air. Once the air is out, fill the jar to the brim and screw the lid on the jar. Label the jar with the date and plant used. 

    In six weeks, strain the plant out of the liquid, making sure to squeeze and save all the good medicine from the plant material. General use is a dropperful daily for your need (digestive, respiratory, etc.). Droppers generally only fill halfway and that is considered a dropperful - about 20 drops.

    A typical dose for joint pain and lubrication is a dropperful several times a day.

    To dissolve cysts, it is recommended to take a dropperful 2-3 times a day for 2-12 months.

    To make a salve, fill a half pint jar halfway with fresh plant material and add 4 ounces of coconut oil. Place this jar into a pan and add water to about halfway up the sides of the jar. Melt and infuse slowly over 2-3 hours over a very low heat. Take it off the heat and let it cool a bit, strain and squeeze out and collect the oil. Put the oil in a pan and add .25 ounces of grated or shredded beeswax. Melt these together and pour into small jars or tins and set it aside to cool. It will harden as it cools. This should make about 4 ounces of salve.   

    Folk medicine is the people's medicine. It has been used for millennia. All synthetic, modern medicines have their origins in plants. The difference is that plants still contain all the phytochemicals and constituents necessary for the body to be able to benefit from their use. The "active ingredient" is not something that works separately from the other components of the plant. Plants don't heal, they nourish cells so the body can do what it is designed to do. 

    Like any treatment, they do not work in every case, and all questions regarding medical care and disease treatment should be discussed with your own health care provider whether that is a medical doctor, an herbalist, a shaman, or other healer.