Welcome to the 2024 edition of the LITFM blog. This blog is the text-based complement to my weekly posts on Nextdoor.com and the gardening channel on YouTube. In 2023, this blog took on a more formal instructional tone with jokes dispersed within to serve as a hub for conveying information that might not work in a video or weekly update format. The subject matter here is always the wide variety of plant-based foods that you can find growing around you in nature or as some call it ‘Forage Foods’. This ties in with local bartering, and indirectly now we will be including mycology. The primary reason for the change in the blog’s tone and topic came about due to the events of the pandemic, the resulting economic turmoil and other factors. The reality is that we are surrounded with perfectly edible plants that can fill at least some of the void in our dietary needs. There is no reason not to be educated in what is and is not safe and how to prepare it into a nutritious meal. With that said I also realized that in my own way by keeping this blog running I might be butting heads with a billion-dollar pesticide/herbicide/fertilizer industry at times. It has always been in the interest of that industry to label certain things ‘weeds’ so they can sell you product that as time goes by we find out is worse for your health than the weeds are. Coupled with an Agricultural-Education system that peddles the myths of the industry and the old myth that if you can afford a nice lawn you must have wealth we have a population that has been fooled for a long time. So, here we are in 2024, and the forage foods series will continue. I hope all of you who read this blog find the information useful or at least thought provoking. The ‘weeds’ I am listing a certainly found in Zone 8A in North Carolina and should certainly be easy to find in the Southeast regions of America. Thank you for sticking with LITFM and stay tuned for a year of forage foods.
At a glance it's hard to tell Wright's Plantain from Buckhorn Plantain. Thankfully they are interchangeable in use so there is no risk!
Common Name: Wright’s Plantain
Other Common Names: None known.
Botanical Family: Plantaginaceae (The Plantain Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Plantago wrightiana
Description & Habitat: To clear up possible confusion, the Plantains referenced here are not related to the type of Banana called Plantains (Musa sp.). Wright’s Plantain is an annual member of the Plantain family and is native to North America. You can find it in yards, vacant lots by the roadside, in disturbed sites and unlike its more well-known cousins Broadleaf Plantain (P. major) and Buckhorn Plantain (P. lanceolate) it is native to North America. This specific species of Plantain does not mind sandy soils, and will appear in your lawn if the grass is not allowed to dominate. Wright’s plantain has long lanceolate leaves and its flowers are more substantial than other plantains you commonly find in the sandhills. Overall it resembles buckhorn Plantain but with larger flower clusters.
This plant is also known as Plantago hookeriana var. nuda in some publications.
When & What to Harvest: The seeds of this plantain are larger than other species making it idea for harvesting them and grinding them up to make forage-flour. The leaves have the same use against the itching and swelling of mosquito or flea bites and can relive the swelling and itchiness of wasp or bee stings. Leaves should be chewed into a sort of pulp and applied to the sting to get the relieving effect.
Poisonous Lookalikes: None known.
Related Edible Species: Broadleaf Plantain (Plantago major), Buckhorn Plantain (P. lanceolata), Paleseed Plantain (P. virginica), Bracted Plantain (P. aristata), Hare Foot Plantain (P.lagopus).
Recipe:
Aside from using the seeds to make forage-flour, you can make a beverage from this plant as well as using it as a cooked vegetable.
Cooked Plantains
Soak washed leaves in salted water for about 5 to 7 minutes. Boil the leaves with just enough water to cover the leaves in a covered pot until they are tender but not overcooked. You can serve these greens with rice or on their own with just a dash of garlic like you might do with cooked spinach.
Plantain Tea
Steep a handful of washed fresh plantain leaves or an equivalent amount of dried and crumbled plantain leaves (2-4 tablespoons) in water that has been briefly brought to a boil. Steep the leaves for up to a half hour if dried or longer if fresh. Strain the leaves out and sweeten to taste, then drink at your preferred beverage temperature.
With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 8:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.
Spring Vegetable Plants
Arugula – Astro
Kale – Kalebration Mix
Swiss Chard – Ruby Red
Summer Vegetable Plants (NEW!)
Tomato – Sweet 100
Tomato – Chocolate Cherry
Tomato – Black Krim
Pepper – Habanero
Pepper – Ancho/Poblano
Pepper – Sweet Banana
Pepper – Carolina Wonder
Herbs (New!)
Hoan Ngoc
Eucalyptus
Garden Plants
Daylilies
Walking Iris
Coming Soon:
Garlic Plants
How to stay in Contact with Us!
Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.
Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville
Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:
The Videos: Look Here
>Newest videos (2): Wood Hyacinth, Blueberries (short video)
Meetings are still going on! We now meet at LeClair’s General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on April 4th, between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.
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