~ * ~ Common Plantain ~ * ~

Yesterday I spent sometime gathering plantain ( Plantago major ) , a wild herb . Plantain is a great plant to get to know , it grows almost everywhere. It can be used for bee stings , bug bites and some spider bites. Last year my son-in -law got stung on the foot , he has severe swelling when he is stung. I went and gathered some from the yard and pounded it with a pestle to get the enzymes flowing , laid the plantain on the sting and wrapped it with a ace bandage. I changed it after a few hours , the plantain had dried out , almost looked like it was cooked , it draws the poisons out. I laid more plantain on his foot and wrapped it again , he kept it on overnight. The next day the swelling was down , it worked great. If you're outdoors and need a quick fix , you can chew the leaves of plantain and make what is called a spit poultice , apply it directly to bug bites , cuts & scrapes , bee stings. My GrandDaddy practiced the spit poultice method with his tobacco snuff , if we got stung by the honeybees , we got smeared with snuff ~~ yucky , but it worked.

Plantain has been found to be effective in treating many internal problems as well , gastritis , peptic ulcers , diarrhea , irritable bowel syndrome and hemorrhoids to name a few.

I have also read it's great for diaper rash. I'm going to make some salve and try it. I'm going to chop the plantain up and cover with olive oil , let it sit for six weeks. I will strain it after 6 weeks and heat it up and add some beeswax to make the salve.

The grands haven't had any problems with diaper rash yet , but once they start eating more and drinking juices , I'm sure they will. Would love to have a natural remedy for it.

~ Green Blessings ~ JoyceAnn