‘Paths … relate places in a literal sense, and by extension they relate people too’

Both Pia and I have been travelling a lot over the last few months—away from the North East of England down to the South Western tip of Cornwall and even across the sea to Scandinavia. Although everywhere we go there is a totally different landscape—different kinds of trees, plants, rocks and weather, some weeds are common everywhere. We suspect that, in the same way as docks often grow right next to nettles as their remedy, the best healing herbs for humans insist on growing, conveniently, right next to us. 

Plantain in particular, with its long, ribbed, leathery leaves and tall flower stems, thrives on land used by humans:

Plantains are incredibly resilient plants, often growing in places that are repeatedly trampled by livestock or people. Greater plantain, introduced to North America by white settlers, was referred to by the indigenous peoples as ‘white man’s footsteps’; it seemed to crop up wherever they went, probably because the tiny seeds were carried on the soles of shoes.

Miles Irving, 2009

Have a look down at the edges of a well used footpath next time you are walking and see if you can spot ribwort plantain, which we at Grow to Glow use because of its allantoin content, working gently on the skin to promote cell generation and healing. When we collect plantain, scouring footpaths and well used trails for the long pointed leaves, we can’t help but think about the countless others who have walked the same path which has enabled these plants to thrive. In non-Western cultures, the idea of walking along a path is often a metaphor for recollection—as though you can literally step back in time to history. For the Cibecue Apache, the past is described as a trail or path which is trodden by ancestors; and in north-western Canada, the Thcho people have the same work for footprint as for knowledge.

Robert Macfarlane (2012) reminds us that ‘paths are the habits of a landscape. They are acts of consensual making. It’s hard to create a footpath on your own’, and so by walking on and maintaining these footpaths, we are literally walking in the footsteps of those who have come before us. When we walk to forage, we connect not only to these spirits who are imprinted in the paths, but also to a wider folkloric heritage of picking and using the healing herbs which spring up around us: ‘when we start digging around for this forgotten knowledge, we are getting into the grounds of our heritage … a return to an ancient way of life that is part of what we are’ (Irving, 2009).

If you want to pick some ribwort plantain to use as a remedy, please make sure you have identified it correctly, and choose a plant which is away from busy roads or dog walking tracks to avoid contamination. And don't forget to tip your hat to the plant to say thank you!