Comments on: Kiss Your Plantain, Again

By: Kiva Rose

Kiva Rose — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:22:18 +0000

Do you mean for tincture? It’s definitely best to used fresh plantain for tincture… I would reserve the dried for poultices, teas and fomentations myself.

It depends on the herb, but I would be unlikely to use 3 year old plantain, especially when it’s such a common and easy to find plant in most places.

By: Ruxandra

Ruxandra — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:14:25 +0000

I have a question. can one keep plantain in alcohol longer than 6 weeks? should I add to the one I have or should I start another batch as the one I made was from fresh and I only have dried plantain( I could still find some fresh I guess). Can I use a herb I have for 3 years to make tincture?

By: Amanda Abronson

Amanda Abronson — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:12:55 +0000

Thanks! Now to go pick me some plantain…

By: Kiva Rose

Kiva Rose — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:48:07 +0000

Amanda, fill a pint jar with chopped plantain leaves, then fill to top with alcohol (I like everclear 95% grain alcohol for most fresh plant tinctures, but vodka will work too), cover with airtight lid. Let sit for six weeks, then strain, reserving the liquid. Store in an airtight container in a dark, cool place. It’s that simple.

By: Amanda Abronson

Amanda Abronson — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:39:43 +0000

Thanks, Darcy, for the Latin name to Google. Plantago lanceolata sure looks like what we’ve got out here.

http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/plantaginaceae/plantago-lanceolata.htm

Now, do you have a good link/description on “tincture making for dummies”? ^.^

By: Kiva Rose

Kiva Rose — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:46:18 +0000

No idea, I never saw anything while working. Seems very much like an venomous insect type thing, though I’ve never reacted to anything, even scorpions, that way before. When Loba finished up the planting for me she was smart, and wore leather gloves LOL

I want to look for more of the fuzzy kind this spring, I’ve only seen a few plants here, they get easily hidden underneath all the other green stuff…. We mostly have the broadleaf kind along the river, and then there’s the narrowleaf kind in the village and along roadsides.

The world would be a sadder place without plantain.

By: darcey

darcey — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:32:33 +0000

glad your hand is alright. any idea what got you?

i’ve used the fuzzy plantain as a tincture and it works great. I once froze a bunch of it fresh to use for poultices, but never needed it while i had it…but i think if you get a good bunch of is mashed up it would work just fine. It was so abundant in spring in arizona, it was easy to get a lot. But only in spring. then it disappeared.
here in colorado the p, lanceolota is most common, but we still see broad leaved in the yards. I need to tincture more up this spring, and maybe do more oil. i can’t remember if i have oil or not.

By: Kiva Rose

Kiva Rose — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:01:42 +0000

Plantain is probably one of the most common plants in North America and yes, there are different species, there’s at least three in this area, a fuzzy narrow leafed one, the broad leafed one, and a smooth narrow leaf one. As far as I know, they all work similarly, I have used oil and tincture of the latter two, the fuzzy one is too little. The broad leafed (Plantago major) is most common I think and here’s a picture
http://www.wnmu.edu/academic/nspages2/gilaflora/plantago_major.jpg
and here’s the fuzzy (Plantago patagonica) http://www.wnmu.edu/academic/nspages2/gilaflora/plantago_patagonica.jpg

There’s probably some plantain in your back yard right now. Or at least growing out of the cracks on the nearest sidewalk

By: Amanda Abronson

Amanda Abronson — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:53:38 +0000

That sounds like a wonderful plant. I think I remember plantain from the herbs I learned during college, but I don’t know if it’s the same one as you mean. Do you have a picture? Do different varieties work the same way?