Meet the neighbours · wild edible
Chickweed
A low-growing, self-seeding 'weed' Cindy calls one of her most valued plants — mild, nutritious, and worth protecting, not pulling.
Chickweed is a low-growing, self-seeding 'weed' that trails along the ground like a natural ground cover. Its small, bright green leaves are sometimes called 'mouse ears,' and it bears tiny white flowers. Often confused for a nuisance plant, Cindy calls it 'one of my most valued plants,' weed or not. There's also a variety native to Alberta specifically, called Long Stalk (or Long Leaf) Chickweed.
Her take: 'Just because it is a common self-seeding plant, it's called a weed, but that word is not a swear word. Some of my best friends are weeds.' She's taught classes where she brings a potted chickweed plant to show people — most are convinced they've never seen it before, when really they just haven't seen it thriving and well cared-for. She even keeps a dedicated 'Protected Zone' in her garden where chickweed, dandelion, lambs quarters, and other beneficial 'weeds' are deliberately allowed to grow.
A genuine nutritional powerhouse — chickweed contains calcium, essential fatty acids, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and potassium, with a delicate, mild flavour.
How to grow it
- Be careful not to pull it up by the root if you want it to keep coming back — once established, it's genuinely worth protecting rather than eradicating.
How to use & eat it
- Easy to eat right on the spot while working in the garden.
- Coarsely chop into a salad, toss into a smoothie, or steam with other greens.
- Also useful as a living ground cover in a vegetable garden — it helps shade and cool the soil, and can be clipped often for the kitchen.
Makes friends with
Companion planting is just good neighbouring — these do better beside Chickweed.
Other neighbours
- DandelionFar more nutritious than its 'weed' reputation suggests — leaves, flowers, and roots are all useful.
- Lambs QuartersThe spinach-like weed that comes up early, stands the heat, and quietly outperforms the garden row.