8 – Chickweed & Queer Plants Zine!

Posted on 5th December 2022

All about the very cool medicinal qualities of chickweed. Plus exciting announcement about the Queer Plants zine!

Links & resources from this episode

Find them all at solidarityapothecary.org/podcast/

Support the show

Music from Sole & DJ Pain – Battle of Humans | Plant illustrations by @amani_writes | In solidarity, please subscribe, rate & review this podcast wherever you listen.

Transcript
Nicole Rose:

Welcome to the Frontline

Nicole Rose:

Herbalism podcast with your host Nicole

Nicole Rose:

Rose from the Solidarity Apothecary.

Nicole Rose:

This is your place for all

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things plants and liberation.

Nicole Rose:

Let's get started.

Nicole Rose:

Hello everyone.

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How are you doing?

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I'm sorry for my absence.

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I've actually had the flu, been in bed

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for like five days, had a fever and bad

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body aches and sore throat and stuff.

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Kept testing negative for covid, but.

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Yeah, I think I've just been doing a

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classic Nicole of burning the candle

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at both ends like I do sometimes.

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And with the like changing seasons

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and it getting colder and stuff.

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I think literally everyone I know

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at the moment has say, thankfully I

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had my herbs and was able to rest.

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So this episode this

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week is about chickweed.

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It's another chapter from the Prisoner's

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Herbal book, and when I was visiting

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Ryan Dwyer, who's a prisoner, From the

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kill the Bill Riot in Bristol last year.

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, he's doing a four and

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a half year sentence.

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He's an absolute dreamboat babe.

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We get on so well, like friendship

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wise and politically, he's so kind.

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, but when I was visiting him

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in HMP Rochester, which is a

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very strange prison for me.

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Cause I went there when I was like 17

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year, 17 years old to visit a ex-boyfriend

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when he was in the young offenders.

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So it was like, oh my God,

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am I still doing this?

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Is this still my life?

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But it was a really nice visit and when I

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was outside I saw some chickweed growing

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through the cracks outside the prison.

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And I was like, you babe.

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, so I took a picture.

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But yeah, I mean, everyone looks

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to me like, why the hell are you,

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like taking photos of the curb?

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But, I thought it looked super cute.

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So yeah, this episode's

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all about chickweed.

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As for me, other than being sick, I

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had an amazing, , day in Birmingham.

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Doing a workshop about herbalism

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and sort of traumatic stress and the

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nervous system with a group of women

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from, the Minerva Community Garden.

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And it was just, yeah,

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it was just amazing.

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We got to talk about just different

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things about the nervous system,

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giving that stuff a bit of language,

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looking at the effects of like sort of

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chronic stress on our bodies and like

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how herbs can help shape that in terms

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of like responding to inflammation

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or supporting us to move into.

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Parasympathetic nervous system

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states and so many other things.

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But, , they were, yeah,

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a really awesome group.

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And, , yeah, it was like

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a real pleasure to be.

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And it was nice because it was paid.

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So that was amazing and I got to see

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some amazing friends in Birmingham

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who I hadn't seen for a long time.

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And then, yeah, came back and had

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prison visit with my best friend Sam.

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I also saw her yesterday,

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so that was really amazing.

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I've been working really hard on an

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online course about herbalism and PTSD

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and traumatic stress , not gonna talk

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about it loads because I'm gonna do

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like a proper, you know, promotion

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thing about it when it's ready.

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But it's gonna be a kind of like an

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offering, something that I've always

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wanted to give to people that I support

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one to one or you know, prisoner families.

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Like I think we take it for granted

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on Instagram or whatever, that

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everyone has this like language and

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understanding the nervous system and

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all this like geeky polyvagal stuff.

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But actually like most people like don't

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have a fucking clue about that stuff.

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Like, you know, I had no idea

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about that stuff before I got

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chronically sick a few years ago.

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And you know, when I was like in

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acute PTSD land, like I didn't have

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that language of understanding like,

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Oh, this is me in this kind of state

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and this is me in this state and

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this is what moves me to this state.

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Like it just wasn't there.

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And unless we have that kind of language

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and those tools, it's like quite

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difficult to understand like the millions

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of different options with plants and

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how they can support you, you know?

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Because you might take one herb and

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it calms you down, but actually it has

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like a hypnotic feeling and that makes

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you feel incredibly unsafe because

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you feel kind of like dissociated and

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knocked out or drugged or whatever.

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So it's.

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Yeah, I think it's quite complicated

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and I wanted to just do like a quick

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little workshop, you know, like I'm

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super broke after like, Taylor dying

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and like not being able to like open my,

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like proper clinic and all these things.

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, so I was like, right, I'll just, you

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know, I'll try and do like a quick online

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workshop up and share it, and it'll

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just give me a little boost to keep me

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going, and then I'll do a proper thing.

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But, you know, as I've been

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making it, I just, you just

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can't take shortcuts, right?

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Like you , you know, even just to

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explain like the properties of a

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plant is like, involves quite a lot

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of like foundational knowledge of.

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What do we mean by cooling?

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Or what does this constituent

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do, or what is a tincture?

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Like there's so much stuff there.

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So anyway, it's kind of getting bigger

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and bigger and bigger as an offering.

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And I'm using like, , a kind of

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other workshop that I did with

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a kind of anarchist network.

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About like radical responses

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to traumatic stress.

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So it's not just about the individual,

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it's also about how we organize,

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like how we fight to kind of

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abolish things that have traumatised

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us, like prisons, for example.

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, how can we do things like

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resting or releasing tension

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like in collective spaces?

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Like, you know, just like all the

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things, like recognizing all the like

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systemic factors that drive traumatic

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stress or create these nervous systems

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and recognizing that like, PTSD is

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like a real like western concept.

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Like lots of people like are actually not

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in places of safety and they're not in a

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kind of post stage, if that makes sense.

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So anyway, I've blathered about it, but

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I think it is gonna be really great and

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I'm actually, yeah, it's feeling very

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healing, making it and yeah, very, I

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dunno, I think I'm hoping people will

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like receive it and I think the workshop

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at the community garden, like validated

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to me that like, it's really needed.

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Like, you know, everyone has this

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like imposter syndrome stuff, right?

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Of I'm not good enough, I don't know

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enough, I haven't been practicing long

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enough, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

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But it's like, Yeah, you do.

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You know, you can know a lot and you

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can be very experienced in different

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things with your own body, with friends

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and family, with patients or clients

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or, you know, whatever language we

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use for people that we support, and

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I've definitely supported all sorts of

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people in like very traumatic, difficult

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situations and, , Yeah, I probably still

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make a lot of mistakes, , but I would

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like to think that, you know, there's

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like some level of toolkit at the moment

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that I can, can offer with people.

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So I really want it to have it launched

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by now, but it's just not ready.

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So I'm hoping maybe in the new year,

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Let me know if you're interested.

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I can add you to the waiting list.

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, you can also sign up to my newsletter

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where I'll like definitely announce it.

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It might be that I kind of like

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launch it as like a closed group

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thing or just like a small group

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of people to get their feedback.

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So yeah, let me know if you would be keen.

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So sadly we had to postpone the interview

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because of me having the flu, but I

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will, I will try and interview them soon.

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But my close friends have

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launched this absolutely beautiful

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and amazing, little book.

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It's kind of like a coloring scene

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called Queer Plants, brackets and

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Friends, and it's by my friends Kes

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Otter Lieffe and Anja Van Geert.

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They are an amazing duo.

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They made their queer

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animals coloring zine.

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Maybe you've seen it on my website.

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It's just such like a

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gorgeous, delicious offering.

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Yeah, it's such a gorgeous zine.

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I'm just gonna read, , the back cover.

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Asexual, dandelions, sex Changing Willows,

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boundary, smashing lichens, and a fungus

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with over 20,000 sexes (kind of)..

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This coloring book celebrates the

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diversity of plants, fungi, coral, and

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lichens, and the beautiful queerness that

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exists even in the places we least expect.

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Following on from queer animals

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coloring zine, this entertaining

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and educational resource created by

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ecologists, Kes Otter Lieffe, and

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richly illustrated by Anja Van Geert.

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Is a cool for us to pay more attention

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to the beautiful beings that's around us.

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And these two cuties, they've done it as a

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fundraiser for the Solidarity Apothecary.

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So, , one pound from each scene goes,

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goes to the solidarity, pottery, and

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last year they raise like 850 quid,

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which was just like fucking amazing.

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And just, yeah, it enables like

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so much medicine making for people

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experiencing state violence.

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So yeah, it's like super

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kind of them and yeah.

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Yeah, I'm really sad to not

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release an interview this week.

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But, , yeah, it's really gorgeous.

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There's amazing things to color in.

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There's like, , texts about different

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plants and trees and mushrooms and

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how they, you know, they change sex

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or they're bisexual or, you know,

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just, just really validating the fact

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that like, The world is not straight.

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The world is not binary, like queerness

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exists everywhere in animal kingdom.

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In the plant kingdom, you know,

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every man in his dog left, right

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and center is changing sex.

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Like it is natural and it's

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part of our world, and that

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is beautiful and incredible.

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, Yeah, so you can, I'll put

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links, , both to the, where you can

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order the zine and the show notes.

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Yeah.

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I also wanna say that Kes Otter

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is like the most amazing writer.

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She writes like, trans speculative

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fiction, published I think three books

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by now that are just like beautiful

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adventures and novels with like trans

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women in the centers, the kind of

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protagonist and tales of resistance

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and ecology and herbalism and yeah,

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it's just, Such beautiful books.

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She's also caught a podcast, called

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Margins and Memorizations, and there's

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interviews with different people about

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queer ecology, trans herbalism, community

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healing, loads of amazing things.

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So I will put a link to

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that in the show notes.

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Please check it out.

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and Anja does like incredible

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breathwork sessions, supporting people.

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Yeah.

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As like, again, like a nervous

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system tool for kind of healing and,

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you know, surviving in this world.

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So, yeah, I'll put, I'll put

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both their websites in the

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show notes again, very long.

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So the other thing is I have

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created like a way that people

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can give testimonials on my books.

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So if you have read Overcoming Burnout

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or the Prisoner's Herbal, or you've

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used the coloring book, or you've done

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my Glycerine course, I would love it if

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you could just spend like two minutes,

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like writing a little testimonial for

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my website, just like a little bit about

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like, you know, what, what impact the

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books had on you, like how you find

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it, any kind of key learnings from

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it, how you've used it in your life.

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That would really, really help me.

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Like, you know, like I'm not , I'm not

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like an NGO or an organization like I just

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like a single person, if that makes sense.

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And I'm trying really hard to like

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build a livelihood from this stuff and

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trying to sell books so that we can

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get more books to prisoners and trying

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to, you know, spend my time doing,

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like, work with the clinic in Calais

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and in Poland and yeah, it's a lot.

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And I would just really

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value people's support.

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So if you can fill that

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in, that would be amazing.

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Anyway, onto the gorgeous chickweed.

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And the final thing is I'm not actually

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gonna be at home the next three weeks.

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So today and tomorrow is the last

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chance to order anything of me before

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Christmas , sorry for the short notice.

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I wanted to like, you know, share

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this last week, but we're sick.

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, So yeah, if you wanna order a book, I can

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post it out tomorrow or Wednesday morning.

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But other than that, I'm not gonna

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be back till the end of the month.

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So I am shooting myself in the foot, like

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missing the whole Christmas season thing.

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But , yeah, I also will be sharing

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what I'm doing like in the next

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episode, hopefully so yeah.

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Anyway, on with the show and this

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is all about the amazing Chickweed.

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The gorgeous Chickweed.

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Okay, so Latin names Stellaria media.

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Plant family is Caria the Carnation

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family identification, small white style

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like flowers that have five petals,

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a single line of hairs on the stems.

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Low growing clumps form

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from 10 to 40 centimeters.

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The herb blooms from March until November.

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However, in our changing climate, I

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found it in flower in early January.

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Other species.

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There are lots of similar

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chickweeds and stitchworts.

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Mouse ears have similar flowers

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and petals but are hairy all over.

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Folk names in English.

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Starweed, fliodh in Irish.

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Sorry if I miss pronounce that.

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cosmopolitan weed, chick

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wittles, clucken wort.

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chickney weed, tongue grass,

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winterweed, satinflower.

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white birds eye, adder’s mouth,

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stichwort and shirt buttons.

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Stellar means star in Latin, as seen in

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the gorgeous, tiny star shaped flowers.

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This plant has chemical constituents,

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minerals, including silica, vitamin C,

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a, b, mucilage, saponins and fatty acids.

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Food and nutrition.

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Chickweed was once sold as a

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vegetable on the streets of London,

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is delicious, raw and in salads,

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but can also be added to dishes like

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tabul, soups, pestos, and curry.

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Chickweed can be very high in

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aluminium, iron, magnesium,

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manganese, silicon, and zinc.

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It is also high in calcium,

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cobalt, phosphorous, potassium,

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protein, sodium and vitamin A.

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I commonly make chickweed

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vinegar as vinegar is a great

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way to extract minerals.

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Ecological role.

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Chickweed is an annual plant.

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Ben Averis references Chickweed

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is being found mainly on nutrient

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rich soils and disturbed places.

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Waste ground, road size,

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field margins, gardens, stony

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Seashores, and seabird cliffs.

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In my experience, Chickweed

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mostly grows on bare soils.

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Where the soil is likely

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contaminated or low, nutrient

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chickweed will be sparse and small.

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When it's in a garden bed with

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a with a soil rich and organic

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matter chickweed will grow across

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like a carpet and be incredibly

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happy, spreading wider and wider

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. Folklore.

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In Hatfield's Herbal, chickweed is

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described as a weather forecaster

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when it's flowers and leaves open

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fully, good weather can be expected.

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If it should shut up, the traveler

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is to put on his great coat.

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Apparently, even the seed capsules close

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up tightly in wet weather cultivation.

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I have never grown chickweed from seed,

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as it always brings up everywhere.

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If you want to introduce it, then it

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is best directly sewing by seed into

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the soil, ideally with some compost.

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Once you have it, it will self sow.

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Energetics, temperature, cool.

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Moisture, moist.

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Tissue states dry atrophy

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and damp stagnation.

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Taste chickweed, tastes very grassy.

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It is quite sweet and moist

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with a very gentle bitterness.

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Herbal actions.

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Alterative, anti-inflammatory,

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antipruritic, antiseptic,

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astringent, carminative, demulcent,

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discutient,diuretic, emollient,

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expectorant, febrifuge, hepatic,

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laxative, mucolytic, nutritive,

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pectoral, refrigerant, vulnerary.

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Health challenges supported by chickweed.

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Skin complaints externally.

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Chickweed has been used to

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sooth it, itches bites, stings,

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inflammations, burns, swelling,

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sunburn, bruises, and splinters.

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It can be made into a skin lotion

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or infused oil for itching and

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inflamed skin, as well as being

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mold made into a poultice.

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Chickweed has a cooling and drawing

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action when made into a poultice.

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Chickweed can be used for its drawing

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function on boils and abscesses.

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Be sure to replace every few hours.

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Chickweed can be added to bath

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and soaks and soaks if the area

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of inflamed skin is extensive.

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Herbalist Mark Pedersen describes

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how externally these saponins help

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solubilize toxins in abscesses and rashes

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and helps increase the effectiveness

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of bacteria size by increasing the

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permeability of the cell walls.

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In their incredible overview of medicinal

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plant records in Britain and Ireland.

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David E.

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Allen and Gabrielle Hatfield

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described the many uses of chickweed

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referencing historical documents.

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By far, the commonest of those is

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in the form of a mat as a hot and

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relaxing poultice to reduce swellings,

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including those sprains and mumps

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and other forms of inflammation.

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Most records share similar uses

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of chickweed for, for the skin

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and inflammation, however, is

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described as a significant remedy for

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insomnia in the Scottish Highlands.

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Irritated and hot conditions.

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Chickweed's primary cooling and anti-itch

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actions can be used for absolutely

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any hot, irritated, itchy conditions.

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This includes thrash,

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hemorrhoids, rashes, and eczema.

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It can also be a very cooling plant

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for hot and fiery people in general

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who need to cool and channel their fire

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. For inflamed eyes.

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Chickweed is an ally for eye

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inflammation, including itchiness

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as a cleanser and restorer.

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Chickweed can also support

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inflammatory conditions internally.

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Herbalist, Julie Bruton-Seal and

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Matthew Seal say that Saponins work

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at a cellular level to increase

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absorption and permeability.

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What this means is that inflamed

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organ membranes as in the liver,

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kidney, and lungs, are helped by

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saponins to absorb healing nutrients

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as well as allowing their waste and

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blockages to be more easily removed.

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They continue to say that Chickweed

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works well on hot inflammatory

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conditions and problems like gastritis,

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colitis, congested chest block,

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kidneys, and gallbladder, and piles.

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They say it has an affinity for the

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lungs for sore throats, bronchitis,

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asthma, irritable dry coughs,

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and other respiratory conditions.

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According to herbalist, Zoe Hawes

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Chickweed can also be dried and made

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into infusions for rheumatic conditions.

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An old wives tale is that chickweed

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can be used as an ally to loose weight.

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Some herbalist attribute to how

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it stimulates the metabolism

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and the breakdown of fat cysts.

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Chickweed can also be made into a fresh

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herb tincture, chickweed tincture when

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used for extended periods can dissolve

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cysts, especially ovarian cysts.

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I mean, yeah, bit of caution with that.

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Like I said, like the first section

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is all about like diverse kind of

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uses of chickweed through history.

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But for something like cyst, you'd

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really wanna be working with like

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a clinical herbalist, , and having

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regular checkups and scans and.

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But yeah, the kind of like chickweed

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in prison section is the more like

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DIY section, if that makes sense

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of things you can do yourself.

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Okay.

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Cautions.

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Zoe Hawes says, do not take

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chickweed if you have bleeding of the

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stomach or intestines as chickweed

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may aggravate this condition.

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An extreme or excessive intake can

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cause vomiting or diarrhea, which I've

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never heard of, but you never know.

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Right?

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Better be on the safe.

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Combines well with a really

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nice salve for eczema.

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Skin rushes and psoriasis can be made

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with chickweed, chamomile and plantain.

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Chickweed also combines well with nettle

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and meadowsweet for rheumatic diseases.

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How to practically use

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chickweed in prison?

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Where you might find chickweed.

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Chickweed is going to be growing

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on the soil rather than in a

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path or in a crack in the wall.

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You might find it living

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under other plants.

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It's very low growing.

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It will like to be on bare

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soil rather than in grass.

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Nutrition.

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Add chickweed to your food, whether it's

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raw and salads or sandwiches or thrown

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in when you were eating curries or stews

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or whatever gloop you were served up.

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I remember being given a single bread roll

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with a packet of Marmite, which I hate.

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Like I really fucking hate Marmite.

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Sorry to swear, but it's just so gross.

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Anyway, , for dinner over the weekends

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in prison when we have had early

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bang ups, like when you're locked in,

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so it would be a good time to whip

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out the greens I had saved from the

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prison garden and eat them with bread.

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I can now realize I'm actually

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quite severely gluten intolerant.

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, anyway.

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Make a vinegar.

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In some prisons, malt vinegar is

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available to buy on the canteen.

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Vinegar has an amazing ability to extract

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minerals from plants, see guidelines

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for how to make a herbal vinegar.

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In the medicine making section, you'll

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be left with vinegar that is full of

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minerals, which you can use on food

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or add a splash of it to hot water.

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Boils and abscesses.

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Generally on the outside,

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ointments would be made up of

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chickweed for skin conditions.

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However, in prison you can make

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fresh, fresh poultices and apply to

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boils and absences, rashes, and skin

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complaints like sunburn or eczema.

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You can add chickweed to your bath

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and or make a strong infusion of

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chickweed and then add it to your

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bath if a bath is not possible.

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You can also place it on wherever

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is affected with a compress.

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Soak some material in the infusion

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and place it over the area.

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The juice pulp can also be

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applied to any area of the skin

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to soothe irritation sprains.

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Soak a compress in a strong chickweed

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infusion and wrap around the

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sprain, itchy, or inflamed eyes.

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Mash up the fresh plant and apply

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the juicy pulp to a closed eye.

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After 10 to 20 minutes, or when

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the poultice becomes warm, remove

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the poultice and and apply a

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fresh poultice of chickweed.

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For best results, this can be

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re repeated multiple times and

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over the course of several days.

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Joint pain and rheumatism.

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Drink chickweed tea internally, chest

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infections, sore throats and dry coughs.

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Drink a strong chickweed tea.

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You can also use the tea as a

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mouthwash to squish and spit.

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Thanks so much for listening to

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the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

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You can find the transcript, the

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links, all the resources from the show

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