Plantain

I find it so ironic that many of the healing herbs around us are consider weeds. Plantain happens to fall into that category. As a child I can remember picking the stalks bending it into a little gun to pop of the tops. People who desire an immaculate lawn spend a lot of time and money getting rid of this helpful herb. Plantain, which can be found all around the world is most noted for its astringent properties.

I started using plantain mainly due to my curiosity of hearing it work for bee stings and mosquito bites. You see my daughter gets horrific reactions to mosquito bites and nothing I put on seemed to work for the poor dear. I had heard that if you get some plantain and chew it up in your mouth and spit it out and slap that juicy mess on any bites it will start to pull out the poison and remove some of the pain. So I tired it and despite the nasty taste it seemed to work. Later I realized you can just whizz it up in your blender with some water or olive oil and make a poultice and you've got the same thing, without the dramatics.

To me this is a huge break through. I can be almost anywhere and not feel stressed out if my kids get a bite or a bee sting. I also read that you can make a toner with plantain and it can clear up your skin by drawing out impurities and clearing up scar marks. Of course I had to try that! SO I mixed up some apple cider vinegar, crushed plantain leaves and calendula and let it sit for three weeks, shaking the bottle every day or so, and now I've been using the mixture every morning and night as a facial toner. I read that your face gets worse before it gets better and it seems to be the case. I smell sort of like a vinaigrette salad dressing but I don't mind especially because 1. it was cheap to make and 2. it really seems to be working!

So if you're interested get outside and go and find some plantain. stick it on some bug bite and see what happens!