[southrngardngal]

We garden in raised beds and all the beds have become overrun by hen bit and chickweed. I try not to use any kind of chemicals in our garden so other than trying to pull it out is there any other way to get rid of it. When I say overrun that's putting it mildly. I can't find the Swiss Chard because it's covered up with these weeds.

I read online that both hen bit and chickweed are edible. Have any of you eaten either of these and if so how did you prepare it?

I know chickens love both but at the moment we don't have any chickens.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[Gretchen Ann]

Thickly cover the bed with newspapers (7 or 8 thick) then mulch on top of newspapers. Let it set a year and the weeds will be smothered. Yes, this takes time, but it works for me. You will need to stagger doing all of your beds.

 

[Skandi]

For chickweed (Stellaria media) You can eat it in salads whole, use it in pesto, add it to anything you would normaly use spinach for, of course you can use it in soups.

I personaly use it like chopped spinnach, since I find it can be a little stringy.

It's also medicinal A quick google pulls up plenty of ideas. though some I might avoid

 

[geo in mi]

For me, shallow hoeing or tilling will take care of henbit, and I don't usually worry about it, since it dies off long before it would become a nuisance to anything planted. In fact, henbit provides early nectar for bees and such. Chickweed, on the other hand, has to be attacked by hoe and hand pulling early on, while just starting out, since it will grow and vine rampantly and smother anything around it--like your Swiss chard. When it is long, it isn't too hard to pull, but by then, it has flowered and gone to seed--and just shaking it scatters thousands of seeds on the soil for next year's crop. It's a hands and knees job in the strawberries......

geo