Are the spindly weeds with the medium blue blooms currently growing alongside the roadways and in unmowed areas the same chickory that is harvested in Louisiana for chickory coffee?
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Chickory
Submitted by Moggy on August 6, 2008 - 10:37am.
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I am from KC orginally. I have lived in Bluefield, West Virginia for 13 years now and Bluefield was named for the beautiful blue flower (Chickory) that was abundant in fields of blue when people first settled this area. It is still present here along roadsides, etc. We have a clump of it in our backyard that we let bloom each year.
To my surprise, when I visited one of my relatives on a visit home this past summer, there was a huge field of it next to their house! They live in a rural area outside of KC. I didn't know it grew in Missouri. I didn't remember ever seeing it there.
I told my aunt what it was. She was wondering if there is a tea that can be brewed with it. Does anyone know?
Lynne in Bluefield
Hi, nice to hear from you! Try this link:
Click here for chickory tea
It gives an easy recipe for chickory tea although I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to try it. -- Craig
Chicory is the pretty blue flowers we see in the roadside in this area. Chicory is used as herb. I do not know if it is the same species or not.
According to a source book chicory can be used to flavor coffee or as a substitute for coffee. The sap is bitter.
My recommendation would be to enjoy not brew. Along a roadside we have no idea what has been applied or absorbed by the leaves.
Dennis - Johnson County Extension