Wisconsin Snapshots: Plain Plantain

(I'm on a roll, here, folks, bear with me. This is prime harvest time for the wild herbs and that's my focus at the moment. So be prepared to hear about a few of my favorites over the next couple of weeks! Hopefully you will find the information entertaining and possibly even useful...)

Usually overlooked, stepped over, maligned as a "weed" and often eradicated, PLANTAIN is another wild child everyone should get to know.

Recognize this? Common plantain, with a rounded leaf, and "English" plantain, with a long narrow leaf, both have thickish leaves with prominant veins. The "strings" from larger leaves were reportedly used for suturing way back when on the frontier...

It is neighborly with dandelions, they do well in the same lawns. Which is frowned upon by the Lawn Police. However, once we look at it's redeeming qualities, maybe we can get them to relent.

I'm going to use Jolene for an example again, of how learning the positive use of a wild child can be life-changing.

I had already harvested a bunch of plantain from her yard and field, and she had actually helped pick it, shaking her head the whole time. So when a nettle I was harvesting flopped over and gave me a little sting on the arm I said "Now I need a plantain!" Jolene knew what to grab, and quickly found one (they are always near nettles - see how that works?!).

I chewed a piece of leaf for a moment then put the wad on the nettle sting, and went on cutting. I didn't say anything, and neither did she.
Then a few days ago, she told me, "Say, that plantain really works! I put it on a bee sting when we were out loading hay, and it stopped hurting immediately!" So now she has some plantain soaking in a jar with olive oil, to use on owies and skin rashes - works on animals, too!

(FYI: that little chewed up wad of plantain leaf is called a "fairy bandaid". Your new mission: Teach every child (of every age) how to recognize plantain, and how to make a "fairy bandaid" for stings, bug bites, and other small owies!)

I snickered to myself, because when I had shown Jolene the Healing Salve that Kim and I made, she just sort of "humpf-ed" and smiled. You know that smile - 'yeah, I hear ya but I'm really not believin' ya.' Now she's smiling for real!

Normally I would use single oils of the healing herbs, each steeped in olive oil, and mixed for whatever particular formula I needed. For this project, we used 4 oz. of dried herbs (1 oz. each of comfrey, calendula, plantain, and St. John's wort) steeped in 1 1/2 c.warmed olive oil for about an hour. Just kept warm, not boiled or even simmered. We want STEEPED, not cooked, herbs.

Then the oil was strained through cheesecloth, gathered up and squeezed and pressed to get every bit of goodness out. The herbs and cheesecloth are both biodegradable, and can be put on the compost.

One cup of the herbal oil was measured out...

and one ounce of melted beeswax rapidly stirred in. Had to rewarm the oil a bit, as the wax starts to harden immediately; it all needs to be melted and mingled for the next addition...

which is adding one teaspoon of essential lavender oil. Kim then quickly poured the still-warm liquid into the waiting containers.

It took about 20 minutes for all the salve to cool thoroughly, for lidding.

Nifty labels, eh? These came from a kit, along with the bottles and tins. Someone clever on their computer (not moi) could make their own labels, I'm sure...

That lovely green just looks soothing, doesn't it? This salve,which I've been making off and on for years, is good for everything from diaper rash to little boy's knee owies. Works on burns (lavender is a noted burn healer), and soothes itches. It's a wonderful all-purpose friend.

So - regarding the Lawn Police and Plantain. They may not realize it, but they are in a losing battle. There are more and more of us "wildcrafters", who know the truth about plantain.