Chickweed Oil

A few years ago the council placed a number of concrete planters around the estate and filled them with tulips. I've seen no evidence of flowers since, so maybe the squirrels got 'em. Last week I noticed they were full of chickweed. This is great, because the containers are too tall for dogs to have peed on them so I have no worries about using the plants.

I pulled up what seemed to be a generous quantity of chickweed, the roots were mostly retained, and I picked a few twigs and leaves out of my harvest. In James Green's "The Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook" there were a number of options for infusing a herbal oil. I chose one which required a slow cooker (or maybe a yogurt-maker) then looked on ebay for a second-hand one that was being sold locally. Once that particular auction went way beyond my limit I nipped out to my nearest catalogue shop and bought one for half the price.


I wilted the Chickweed for a day or so in the fridge until I found time to get back to it, then chopped it and put it in the slow-cooker covered in olive oil. By this time the amount looked pathetically meagre. Then I discovered that the instructions recommend infusing the oil for 10 days! I've previously only infused dried leaves or petals in oil over a pan of simmering water for a maximum of 4 hours!

Here's the amount of Chickweed and oil I used.


Not having used a slow cooker before, I was surprised at how quickly the temperature of my oil exceeded the recommended 38°C/100°F. I've been keeping the lid off the pot to regulate the temperature and the dial is turned to "warm". Possibly if I made a larger amount it wouldn't get so hot. Now we wait.