Chickweed juice.

The juicer will jam up, so here's another way to get the juice.

Chickweed (Stellaria media) is one of the best plants there is for itching skin.

And the important part is the juice, so you can't expect dried herb to work.

I've made chickweed salves from the fresh herb, and there's always fresh chickweed outdoors in summer, but what if you're all out of salve and get an itch in mid-winter?

The usual advice in herb books is to freeze chickweed juice in ice cube trays (although plastic ice cube baggies are better).

Problem is, the very thin and very tough stems of chickweed will jam the juicer in no time at all.

What to do, what to do ...

... chop up a wad of fresh chickweed as fine as you can be bothered to, jam it into a large jar, add cold water, let that sit in the fridge for a few hours (stir occasionally), and freeze the water. Which now has enough of the chickweed juice in it to matter, in the anti-itching department.

Or, of course, jam a wad of fresh chickweed into a freezer baggy and make your fresh herb salve in mid-winter, too. If your itch is bad you can use the oil while it's standing around, clearing up, too.

Piece of cake.

Somebody showed me a jar full of dried chickweed, a few months ago. I was surprised: does it have other uses besides soothing itching skin? I looked it up, and it had, but I've forgotten all about them again. Honest, it's a herb for itch.