I have really appreciated the herb plantain... what a big help the plant
is... and it is so plentiful. It can usually be found quite easily. It can grow in the garden, yard, walkways, etc.
It is wonderful to have this great herb so handy... it works for stings, bites, cuts and more. The seeds can be helpful for constipation... they can be made into a tea or I just eat some sometimes.
Here the plantain is growing along the side of our flagstone path. I leave a few... sometimes a lot when I am behind in weeding, like now. :)
A few years ago, we were traveling and I forgot to take the first aid kit or the essential oils. Not a good idea. While walking at a state park, I fell on my knee on the gravel (but I saved my camera from damage as I was carrying it in my hand at the time!)
I had lots of 1/2" - 3/4" cuts all over my knee....and it bled. Hmmm.... no first aid kit.... After going back to my parents' house, we found triple antibiotic ointment and bandaids, which was helpful, but I wanted my natural stuff. I sent my husband out to the yard to look for plantain. He found a pathetic specimen, because everything was so dry, but it was better than nothing. After picking gravel out of my knee and cleaning it well, we put triple antibiotic ointment on it and then put those pathetic plantain leaves (cleaned with water first to get the dust off) on the injuries after we bruised the leaves. We covered it with gauze and tape and put ice on it and put my leg up. This was quite a painful injury. Later, the kids were able to find better plantain out in the woods, and so we used that when we changed the dressing. We did this twice a day. That injury healed much faster than I expected it would.. and with very little scarring. That was exciting to me to have my natural remedies there when I had forgotten my natural remedies. :) I have used antibiotic ointment before and it helped, but the injuries NEVER healed as quickly as this one did. What a great find.
Here the plantain is growing near a stepping stone in my garden.
If there is a sting or bite, plantain can be crushed or chewed and put on the area.... even out in the wild. I love knowing things like this... we don't always have a first aid bag with us. :)
A few weeks ago, I was doing a lot of garden work... lots of digging and trowel work.... all throughout the day. It felt good to get a lot done. I had a phone call in the evening and did more while I was on the phone... using the trowel, digging... getting much done. All of a sudden, I had a strong pain on the palm of my hand and when I looked down, I was surprised to see a big blister than had broken. I took pictures, but I am not posting those as I know that would be hard for some people to look at. I didn't even realize I was getting a blister until it broke and hurt... a LOT!
I took a shower and cleaned it out the best I could... it was rather dirty from all of the garden work. Then I put a couple of drops of iodine on it, then triple antibiotic cream ... and pieces of broken/bruised plantain... and covered with a couple of bandaids. It throbbed. The next morning, I put a clean dressing on it with the same ingredients. I was careful with it, but the pain lessened through the day and by the next day, I had no pain unless I hit it directly. I left the bandaids on for about 2 days, then left it open and was still careful. The blister had removed several layers of skin and it had been very red and angry looking, but the color started to soften... and the healing was rather quick, although it still took a few weeks for all of the skin to grow back over the area.
One of my sons is over 6 feet tall and he has large hands... look at the size of this plantain plant! It was growing out by the blackberry plants and apparently it loved where it was growing. :)
Plantain is also great for poison ivy and other skin issues.... so many uses. I have used it on a son's brown recluse spider bite.... and on other issues.
My kids know that I really like plantain and consider it a very valuable herb. Recently, they came in and said to come and look at the big plantain growing in the yard.
Hmmm... that thing looked huge in the grass.... my son laughed and said he had dug it up from the garden and planted it in the yard to show me. :) We all laughed about it.
This is the close up of that big plantain out in the yard.
Plantain is a great plant to be aware of... and I haven't even touched on many of its great qualities. This post is just to highlight how it has really helped to heal injuries quite quickly... and easily.
Thank you for visiting today... I hope you learn more about plantain and how to use this great herb. It is nice to know something about it in case of emergencies. Do you like to use plantain also? How do you use it?
Note: This plantain is not the same as the plantain that is like the banana...
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I have talked before on Gentle Joy Homemaker, about the herb teas that I make and store in pretty jars.... They are useful and very good for us... and I like having them all mixed up and ready to use.
Making Herb Teas For Good Health
Recently, one of my kids was struggling with "junk" in the throat, so I did some more studying... and came up with a new tea.
This one is being called Allergy Tea, although its main purpose is mucous cleansing.... that title just didn't sound good for my tea, so the title is Allergy Tea! :)
The ingredients include:
Mullein
Plantain
Comfrey
Peppermint
Lemon Peel
Fenugreek
Stevia for a little sweetness
We have been drinking it for a couple of days and find that it is very helpful and the flavor is actually quite good. My husband and children have been drinking it willingly....and even said they liked it! :)
I have been making a pot of tea (actually about 2-3 of them!) in the morning and we all drink it with breakfast and during the day.
It doesn't look all that wonderful... just a bunch of dried herbs all together in the jar..... but it makes a nice rich tea that tastes good.... and is good for us.
Here is the teapot with the tea strainer inside... I added about 3 heaping teaspoons of the tea herbs.
After pouring the hot water in, you can see the herbs just soaking up that water and releasing their good nutrition into the tea. :)
This is my tea strainer - one of them anyway, and this is my very favorite one. It fits into this teapot... and also into a few of our tea mugs, allowing me to easily brew the tea...or an infusion.
You can tell that mine is getting in rough shape...the screening is pulled loose from the one side (on the right side in the picture)... but it still works. I am hoping to buy another one, but since this one still works, I don't want to spend the money. :)
With the lid on the teapot... over the strainer, the tea steeps for about 10-15 minutes.
Waiting...
There it is... worth waiting for.... enjoyable.... AND good for us.
I am hoping to keep the symptoms my child has, from turning into anything worse... like sickness. I am rather excited about this tea and plan to use it much in allergy season. When I make it again, it may have a couple more ingredients, we'll see.... for right now, this is just right. :)
I am so glad that God has supplied herbs with just the right nutrients to aid us in being healthy. What a blessing to have such healthy and good tasting teas to use. I am drinking a cup of this tea right now as I write this....only it is in a white cup this time.... and I find that I really do enjoy this blend.
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