Suburban Herbalism - Plantain

When I was young, I remember playing on the playground with these plants with a long stem and a small oval shaped round thing at the top. We would pick the stem and tie a lose knot around the bottom of the round thing. Pull it just so and the round thing would fly off. Sound familiar? That was plantain!

Plantain is your best friend when bugs bite or your skin is itchy while you're in the yard. It's almost everywhere. There are two varieties of plantain typically found in yards - narrow leaf or broad leaf. Narrow leaf is the above described plant. At the base of the stem there are narrow leaves. The broad leaf variety has a broader leaf and the stem is lined with seed pods. I typically work more so with broad because it's what I have growing.

broad leaf plantain, busted toe

Using plantain is fairly simple. You'll use what's called a spit poultice. So lets say you're hanging out in your yard and get bit by a mosquito or stung by a bee. Just grab a leaf or a few of plantain, chew it up a bit, and slap it on your bite. Rub it in a bit and leave it on there, replacing as needed. You may cover it with a bandage to keep it in place but you want to let it breathe if possible. You can also prepare an oil. I'm making an oil this week so will post about that when I'm done so I'll have pictures to share!

A spit poultice is an effective, quick way to take the itch or sting out of an insect bite while on the go and a easy to recognize and use introduction to backyard herbalism. Plantain is everywhere, look for her while you're out and about and say hello!

Herb: Plantain

Use: Skin irritations, insect bites, stings 

Preferred Vehicle: spit poultice, herb, salve

As plantain is used on broken skin, a tincture wouldn't be ideal as it would involve alcohol on a wound. A tea or infusion would also be less ideal as it's being used to treat an acute and isolated ailment. 

Fermentation Super Duper Incredibly Basic

Currently, my favorite way to preserve is by lacto-fermentation. Basically, delicious controlled rot. 

Fermentation is using the good bacteria to crowd out the bad and turn ordinary vegetables into super veggies! Gut healthy, probiotic rich, bioavailable vitamin heavy, immunity boosting SUPER VEGGIES.

The good bacteria we're aiming for here is largely lactobacillus which is an obligate aneorobe which means it thrives in an environment free of oxygen. To get this we submerge our veggies completely in a brine solution. 

So what's in this solution? How do we do it? 

Salt is a must have. We have to control the numbers of bad bacteria with salt. Depending on what vegetable we use we may need a different salt solution percentage. Find a good recipe and follow it closely. 

The controversy comes in with whey v no whey. Until recently I've always used whey, following the advice of Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions. I'm now experimenting with fermenting using a heavier brine solution without whey on the idea that whey, while introducing good bacteria, doesn't introduce the right good bacteria and can prolong the process. I'll let you come to your own conclusions on that. It makes sense but I've used whey all along successfully. They only draw back is if you're not a cheese or yogurt maker it can be a pain to come across which is why I'm trying not using it. 

So that's basics. I highly recommend Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz to learn more. 

My fermentation station - ginger bug, honey garlic, lactofermented garlic, sauerkraut, kombucha