A simple reminder as to what defines a weed comes from the Oxford dictionary;
A wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants.
Other definitions introduce the word valueless. As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, weeds too are in the eye of the beholder. Weeds are like the someone else's errant child running rampantly, raucously through the shopping centre; misunderstood. When the child is yours they are tired, or hungry or sick. To all else they are evil. To most weeds are evil but when you realise what little gold mines they are, you can't help but embrace them. It makes weeding the garden more appealing when you get tp eat some of the pull outs!
Weeds are a type of plant that happen to be very good at what they do.
There are apparently over 250 species of plantain. I am not talking about the green banana like fruit but of a type of weed. Plantago major or broad leaf plantain is the shining light in the family, plantago lanceolata the reedy cousin. Originating from Europe they are widespread worldwide, their seeds the greatest hitchhikers on humans you could imagine. Additionally their seeds can survive the digestive turmoil of a birds gut, so globalisation is hardly surprising.
The value of broad leaf plantain has been analysed by scientists. As we are principally talking food here I won't go into that. Needless to say, several of the active ingredients of plantain are used in modern medicines and creams. The active ingredients are involved in treatments for irritable bowel syndrome, constipation and somewhat surprisingly diarrhea, wound healing, tissue regeneration, disinfection, cholesterol lowering amongst others. As a treatment for a skin wound or insect bite at home or in the bush you could try making a poultice from the leaves of plantain and applying it. Checkout http://www.drugs.com/npp/plantain.html if you are interested further in this side of plantain. You won't look at this humble little plant with contempt ever again!
We are talking principally about food and broad leaf plantain is an excellent vittle. The leaves are high in calcium and the vitamins A, C and K.
The young leaves can be eaten raw but as the leaves age or if there is little water about for the plant, the leaves become stringy and are best cooked. Added to soups, stews or stocks the benefits will abound without any negatives.
The seed head that you can see in the photo below can be eaten as a snack when green. They can be cooked briefly too but again as these heads age, the inner stalk becomes stringy. They can still be eaten by pulling the seeds off with your teeth as if you were removing the kernels from a very small sweetcorn.
Remember when collecting plants away from your own garden limits, to ensure they have not been sprayed, are not contaminated in some other way and are in fact the plant you think they are.
- They are often early colonisers of cleared land helping to break up the soil and provide a micro-climate for further plant development.
- Weeds often have a tap root which is the most amazing of elevators, bringing nutrients from deep within the soil to the surface.
- They can live in places few other plants would dare to and as we all know, they can take over an area and dominate. Okay I admit I don't like weeding and weeds can be a real pain but they are just following the course nature set for them. Some can be quite useful.
 |
| Broadleaf plantain |
The value of broad leaf plantain has been analysed by scientists. As we are principally talking food here I won't go into that. Needless to say, several of the active ingredients of plantain are used in modern medicines and creams. The active ingredients are involved in treatments for irritable bowel syndrome, constipation and somewhat surprisingly diarrhea, wound healing, tissue regeneration, disinfection, cholesterol lowering amongst others. As a treatment for a skin wound or insect bite at home or in the bush you could try making a poultice from the leaves of plantain and applying it. Checkout http://www.drugs.com/npp/plantain.html if you are interested further in this side of plantain. You won't look at this humble little plant with contempt ever again!
We are talking principally about food and broad leaf plantain is an excellent vittle. The leaves are high in calcium and the vitamins A, C and K.
The young leaves can be eaten raw but as the leaves age or if there is little water about for the plant, the leaves become stringy and are best cooked. Added to soups, stews or stocks the benefits will abound without any negatives.
The seed head that you can see in the photo below can be eaten as a snack when green. They can be cooked briefly too but again as these heads age, the inner stalk becomes stringy. They can still be eaten by pulling the seeds off with your teeth as if you were removing the kernels from a very small sweetcorn.
 |
| Broad leaf plantain I mentioned Plantago lanceolata, the narrow leaf plantain, as being the reedy cousin of broad leaf plantain. The leaves too are edible more often blanched or fully cooked. The veins can be quite stringy and if you have the patience could be removed. If your first eating experience was from a plant growing in the crack of an inhospitable footpath, I am sure you would not return to a second sitting. But if the plant is growing in the well watered oasis that is your garden, you might succumb. The leaves of both plantains can be made into a tea which supplies all of the restorative aspects, no strings attached! |
.jpg) |
| Narrow leaf plantain |
Remember when collecting plants away from your own garden limits, to ensure they have not been sprayed, are not contaminated in some other way and are in fact the plant you think they are.
No comments:
Post a Comment