Chick weed.

[Good Gourd 2]

How does everyone else deal with that I call it chick weed, You know the one that has small white flowers and is like a blanket all over everywhere.

[Good Gourd 2]

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you're thinking of the same plant I am, I don't do anything. I don't see that it really competes with the veg, so it's not doing any harm.

[antipodes]

It's the weed that I mind least. It covers the ground before growing and when you dig over, it just pulls out really easily. I usually ignore it until I am ready for planting. But as I have bindweed, I am not terribly fussy!!

[lincsyokel2]

Chickweed



A layer of compost or cover crop residue spread over the soil will reduce common chickweed emergence. Leachate from composted household waste inhibits seed germination. There are indications that shallowly incorporating chopped straw into the ground reduces seedling emergence. This may be due to the release of toxins as the straw decomposes. Seedling numbers increase, however, following applications of organic manure.

Geese and sheep eat it, in fact, sheep are the best bet, they graze it to death.

You could always try a squirt of glyphosate.............

[lillian]

Eat your way through it.  ;) Lots of recipes for Chickweed salad on the net.

[artichoke]

Thanks to a book called Eat Your Weeds, my children were sent to school with sandwiches filled with homemade cottage cheese and chickweed.... They weren't envied.

[Digeroo]

I think that there must be more then one weed called chickweed mine is a rather small plant with little white flowers, I responds well to hoeing.  It is flowering at the moment and I have rather left it to add a touch of spring.  But it does not have runners as in the picture.  Never had anything like that.

[lillian]

Thanks to a book called Eat Your Weeds, my children were sent to school with sandwiches filled with homemade cottage cheese and chickweed.... They weren't envied.

;D ;D ;D ;D Well at least they know its edible...

[lavenderlux]

Chickens also love it!

[angle shades]

so do my canaries :)/ shades x

[Vinlander]

Thanks to a book called Eat Your Weeds, my children were sent to school with sandwiches filled with homemade cottage cheese and chickweed.... They weren't envied.

It tastes great though I prefer it boiled or steamed when it is a really nice 'different' spinach - better than anything except real and NZ types.

Either way you need to chop the stems quite finely - anything more than 5mm ends up as a ball of string in your mouth.

[.]

How many cups in a Quarter of chick weed ?

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/chickweed.asp
 

[lillian]

How many cups in a Quarter of chick weed ?

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/chickweed.asp
 

I think a qt or quart is approximately a litre.  Fill a litre jug

[lincsyokel2]

How many cups in a Quarter of chick weed ?

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/chickweed.asp
 

I think a qt or quart is approximately a litre.  Fill a litre jug

A quart is two pints. Its a quart because its a quarter of a gallon, which is 8 pints.


you can tell the kids who went to school after 1972.

[lillian]

How many cups in a Quarter of chick weed ?

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/chickweed.asp
 

I think a qt or quart is approximately a litre.  Fill a litre jug

A quart is two pints. Its a quart because its a quarter of a gallon, which is 8 pints.


you can tell the kids who went to school after 1972.

There are imperial quarts and US quarts ::) http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quart I presume Jack Keller's quart of Chickweed is 1 US dry quart.

[lincsyokel2]

How many cups in a Quarter of chick weed ?

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/chickweed.asp
 

I think a qt or quart is approximately a litre.  Fill a litre jug

A quart is two pints. Its a quart because its a quarter of a gallon, which is 8 pints.


you can tell the kids who went to school after 1972.

There are imperial quarts and US quarts ::) http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quart I presume Jack Keller's quart of Chickweed is 1 US dry quart.

This is the UK, we dont have any truck with the meddling to our imperial weights and measures system of the americans

[PurpleHeather]

Those little white flowers turn to seed and re-produce overnight, or at least it seems that way. They are untidy and can consume hours of weeding.

I was told that the only way to get rid of them was to prepare the ground for planting and leave it until they show. Spray them with weedkiller every time they come up. You  loose a year of growing. So, I just decided to live with them.

[tonybloke]

any plant is only a problem if it is out-competing the plants you wanty to grow.  for instance, chick-weed around cabbages acts as a living mulch.

[artichoke]

I've always been undecided about this one. Scientist husband (botanist/ecologist) insists that weeds use up water/resources needed by plants and they have to go. If you grub them all out, the ground dries out quickly. If you leave them there, the ground remains damp. So are the cabbages etc losing out on nutrients or gaining more water than the weeds are using, or what?

Of course I realise there has to be a balance somewhere between small shallow rooted weeds and large robust vegetables, and vice versa, but in principle is a clean garden a dry garden?

[tonybloke]

a lot of plants benefit from having a living mulch, roses and poached - egg plant spring to mind. orchards have grass. i think the benefit out-weighs any tiny bit of nutrient loss.
http://www.ncsu.edu/sustainable/cover/l_mulch.html
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/3/7/2/5/p237253_index.html