My dad mentioned that he thought this plant was edible. We didn't eat it on our foraging weekend with him because it wasn't actually in the book we were using. But once I got home, I decided to spend some quality time on the good old internet researching it.
And holy smokes, this puppy is amazing! Plus it doesn't look like anything else so you won't mistakenly eat another plant. A big plus when it comes to foraging.
Here is a great blog of what this plant does. If you have this in your yard I highly recommend you pop on over and read it.
A general run down on it is this: Super high in Vitamins A and C- you can eat it like we did in pasta or make a tea out of the leaves. You can even eat the rod-like seed pods, or grind them up and put them in recipes. The leaves are used to stop the pain and itch of bug bites as well as poison ivy and promotes healing of sores and bruises.
Here's a list from the above blog who got her information the book Practical Herbalism on what Plantain can help with:
The Many Uses of Plantain:
Plantain leaf can be made into a tea, tincture or infusion and used internally (according to Practical Herbalism):
- To help get Cholesterol to healthy Levels
- To aid those with Diabetes
- For Hemorrhoid relief
- To help relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- To help calm the bowels during Constipation or Diarrhea
- To sooth kidney and bladder problems and to aid with Bladder infection, ITIs and similar problems. Safe for children
- For indigestion and ulcers
Plantain Leaf is also very soothing on external inflammation:
- Bites
- Stings
- Rashes
- Eczema
- Psoriasis
- Burns
- Cuts
- Yeast
- Varicose Veins
So what do you think? Would you give Plantain a whirl? It tasted great to us, we used in place of spinach in our alfredo. I'm currently in the process of making a salve out of it, so I will keep you updated as to how that goes.
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