Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) has been used for centuries as a natural medicine with a wide range of applications. The leaves and flowers of the plant can also be used as a tasty ingredient in many recipes.

Possible uses of plantain in the kitchen and natural pharmacy

The juice contained in the leaves of the plantain has an expectorant effect and is therefore a good remedy for treating coughs and bronchial problems. The active ingredients of the plant can be used in various ways:

  • than juice obtained with a centrifuge
  • as a tea made from the dried leaves
  • as syrup
  • for external wound treatment with chewed or ground leaves

Since the leaves of the plantain are difficult to dry, you should harvest them after a few days of prolonged summer drought. You should also choose a remote location to avoid washing up any pesticides or dog contamination. This also applies in general if you collect the plantain for your own consumption or to feed horses and rabbits. Due to its slightly mushroom-like taste, buckhorn is a valuable ingredient for wild herb salads, wild herb pesto and herb quark. The flowers that have not yet blossomed can be lightly roasted and added to various dishes as a porcini-like aroma.

How do you recognize the buckhorn?

The edible ribwort plantain can be recognized relatively clearly by its lanceolate leaves and can at most be confused with the non-poisonous broad-leaved plantain. When it blooms in summer, the brown flower heads with their wreath of white individual flowers rise high out of the leaf rosettes.

How can the plantain be settled in the garden?

The buckhorn is a relatively undemanding plant and can be sown in a sunny to partially shaded spot in the garden. Cultivation on the balcony is not recommended, since the buckhorn digs very deep into the ground with its roots. The soil should ideally be loose and nutrient-rich, and always slightly moist. However, since the plantain does not tolerate waterlogging, you should occasionally loosen up heavy soil with quartz sand (€15.85) or pumice. After sowing the seeds about 1.5 centimeters deep in early April, plantain usually germinates within about 14 days.

tips and tricks

If you want to fight buckhorn in the lawn, you must make a deep cut to avoid self-seeding. The manual removal of the plants with the root is tedious, but at the same time allows the unencumbered use in natural medicines and kitchen recipes.

Category:

Herbs