Chickweed harvested from ideal conditions is

bright green, and has lots of large, thicker leaves.

The photos on the plate above, harvested from full sun

in my backyard, have fewer, thinner leaves.

Sustainability

Chickweed is a non-native species in the Americas, it originated in Europe and the Indian subcontinent.



Despite this, it's generally not considered invasive. Invasive generally implies that the plant is doing active harm to the native environment/species. Chickweed has been here for generations, and whatever harm it may have had when it was first brought over, it has long since found it's niche in the ecosystem.



So since it's not damaging the environment, it's important to harvest it in a sustainable manner, especially if you want to continue to enjoy chickweed throughout the season, and in future springs.



Where the plant grows abundantly, like in the picture above, you can generally harvest a good with impunity, as it grows back quickly in ideal conditions. In the sun where only a few scrawny plants grow, you might want to leave it alone, or transplant to a shadier area.







Chickweed is a plant of early to mid spring. It can't endure the summer heat. In deep shade, and with good rainfall, I've found good growth as late as June in the Northeast, but that's a rarity.Chickweed has spread throughout most, if not all, of the habitable world. It's certainly throughout North America. Chances are you, or a neighbor, have some growing in the yard right now. Though it can and will grow in sunny areas, like yards, the best, most luxuriant growths of chickweed are going to come from the woods, especially the edges of woods where they meet the meadows, or along trails and other openings in the forest. Chickweed likes it best where it's shaded most of the day, but where it gets some indirect light at certain times of the day. Chickweed growing in the sun will also tend to go to flower and seed quickly, and be gone within a week or two. Chickweed from it's ideal conditions can be harvested for 4 to 6 weeks.