It almost feels like cheating somehow, to harvest something I didn’t mean to grow, but I’m all for the volunteer plants. This past weekend I finished weeding the gardens, and in the process harvested a good amount of plantain – the leafy kind, that is, not the banana-like kind. I feel like it’s extra important, when harvesting things you didn’t plant, to make sure you correctly identify what you’re harvesting. Lately I’ve been using an app and also googling like crazy so that I’m really sure of what I’m picking. I’ll invest in a good plant identification book when I find one, but I’m still searching.
Plantain grows like a weed in my zone 5b garden, and is fairly common over most of North America, from what I understand. It is used medicinally for everything from coughs to digestive issues to skin irritations. It’s generally considered anti inflammatory and is apparently good for bites and stings. I’ve typically suffered at least one sting in the past few seasons of beekeeping, so I’m going to try this out this year. I’m planning on making some plantain oil and then using that to make a salve to keep in my bee bag, and will also experiment with making a poultice from both fresh and dried plantain if I have the opportunities. Will I be lucky enough to try all my plantain remedies or lucky enough to get no stings this year? Time will tell.
A few herbal medicine books have recently been added to my library, and I’ve been enjoying soaking up the info. I’m working on building a little herbal apothecary – food is medicine! Plantain will be a good addition to my basics of garlic, honey, fermented honey garlic, thyme, oregano and sage. I’ll keep some dried, on the shelf and maybe infuse a bit in some in some apple cider vinegar, as is a soothing solution for sunburn. Stinging nettle grows like crazy at the farm, so nettles for tea will be next.
Can you help me out? Can you recommend a good plant identification book? How have you used plantain? If you’ve made an oil – did you infuse the leaves fresh or dried? (I have so many questions today). What’s in your apothecary?!
– Beck
Leave a Reply