Ethnobotanical trail - edible plants

Sometimes you don’t have to go far to find what you need. A corner full of weeds can be as good as a pantry. Some plants we pull up are more nutritious and savoury than those we grow in our vegetable gardens. For instance, nettles and Good-King-Henry contain far more minerals than spinach.

In the old days, people picked because they had to. The poorest had the broadest repertoire. Today some great cooks particularly favour a little plant that was called “manure herb” when just a few years ago those who ate it were ashamed to admit it. Soup was the basis of the mountain farmers’ diet. Mostly it was made with potatoes and a few seasonal herbs. If it was too bland, a couple of leaves of the powerful “Maggi-herb”, which got its name from the stock cubes, would do the trick. In spring, baby leaves of various kinds awakened the taste buds.

The second ethnobotanical trail, in La Grave, focalises on medicinal plants.