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Vol
1, No 4
Page 1 |
Plantain
(Plantago spp.)
Family: Plantain (Plantaginaceae) |
August/September
2003
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Page
2 of this issue features a captioned slide show on how to harvest and
prepare Plantain, and further information on how to identify the plant.
Botanical, historical, and medicinal information, recipes, and links can
be found on Page 3.
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Tools
Required: A basket.
Total field harvesting time: as long as it take
to break off the leaves. Leave the roots in the ground and more leaves
will be produced.
Total
home preparation time: 2 minutes (depending on the quantity)
Yield:
leaves, seeds.
Flavor:
Mild, getting more bitter as the leaves age. Older leaves are a bit tough
to chew raw.
Harvesting
Tips: Pick young leaves and keep picking as the leaves keep producing.
Storage: Keeps in refrigerator for several days, and for several months
in the freezer if blanched. I chop mine up in tiny bits and freeze in
a zip lock bag for handy use.
Serving Suggestions :
Cook like spinach. Add to soups, stews, sandwiches and salads.
If
leaves seem bitter, blanch and throw the first water away. The
seeds may be dried and ground into flour. Make a tea from the leaves.
Notes:
Mild flavor, nothing notable, but not bad nor terribly bitter. Available
for a long growing season, and plentiful everywhere. Wash each leaf well,
as the undersides collect dirt. Seeds are often included in commercial
birdseed mixtures.
Nutritional properties: Plantain is very high in beta carotene
(A) and calcium. It also provides ascorbic acid (C).
Medicinal properties: . Plantain is one of the most potent and
popular medicinal weeds, used in many commercial preparations. It is astringent,
demulcent, emollient, cooling, vulnerary, expectorant, antimicrobial,
antiviral, antitoxin, and diuretic. Leaves drunk as a tea are said to
lower blood sugar, ease diarrhea, and settle stomach problems. Externally,
it can be used as a poultice to treat insect bites, sores, blisters, hemorrhoids,
burns, rashes, and other skin irritations. Some seeds have laxative properties.
Go to Page 3 to learn more.
Plantain Seeds
To
harvest the seeds, wait until the seeds mature, that's just
when a few of them start to turn brown, and store until spring.
To plant, rub off the seeds and sprinkle them around in
the yard.
To eat, roast the stalk over an open fire a few seconds
and nibble them off like corn on the cob, or
rub them off into a bowl, roast the seeds until they begin to scoot
around in the pan, then throw them into a salad.
or, you can eat them raw.
The new seed stalk can be eaten whole, raw or roasted, and is tender
and mild just as it is.
I haven't tried it, but I'm sure you could put the seeds in a jar, pack
in vinegar and salt, and make little capers.
Of course you can freeze the seeds for later use in recipes. Freeze
the whole stalk and the seeds will pop off easily later.
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Plantain's "signature":
Click on the photo(s) below to see enlargement, for better identification.
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IDENTIFICATION
TIP:
Notice how on some varieties, the seed pod is short and the leaves are
long, but the growth pattern is the same.
Cultivation:
Plantain lends itself very easily to cultivation. Easily grown in average,
dry to medium wet, well-drained soil in full sun to light shade. Best
in full sun, but appreciates some light afternoon shade in hot summer
climates. Best in rocky or sandy soils, but thrives in clay soils too.
No serious insect or disease problems. Foliage dies back in the fall,
and new plants sprout up in the spring, either from the seeds or from
the tiny underground rhizome.
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