Le Plantain (Plantago)
This stuff grows everywhere. In parking lots, on walls and even on my garden. Now that says something because I am a very bad gardener! There is some in the grass around my house too and the sheep just ignore it. What a pest!
So I looked at ways to get rid of it. Instead, I found that various species of this plant grows on all continents and has been used as a medicinal plant since prehistoric times. You know, if the Dakota Indian tribe used it to cure snake bites, it was not to spread misinformation among white Yank settlers. They did it because it works. Among many other things, it is astringent, anti-toxic and anti-inflammatory. For topical applications, a poultice can be used on wounds and cuts and it promotes a very quick healing. So I decided to give it a go.
The variety that grows in our garden is Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata). A few weeks ago, my wife grabbed most of it. The leaves were washed, then cut to small pieces in a food processor and immersed in almond oil. This was left to rest for a few days, then filtered. The final product looks like a greenish emulsion. I use it topically when I cut my hands, which happens a lot. And guess what: it works like a dream!
In addition the young leaves can be used in a salad apparently. But I won’t get into it here, after all cooking is not science!
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