Ethnobotanical trail - edible plants

Name: Ethnobotanical trail - edible plants
Address: En face du gîte "Le Pas de l'Ane" Lieu-dit Arsine, Villar-d'Arêne, 05480
Telephone: 04 76 79 90 05
Price range: Free access. Trail map, educational booklet and small ethnobotanical guide available from the Tourist Information Office in La Grave.

Villar-d'Arêne

Arnica flower renowned for its benefits on bumps and bruises - © OT Hautes Vallées

Wild herbs offer a well of possibilities for those who have the patience to get to know them. On the ethnobotanical trails you can learn about the properties of wild plants and how they were used by people in the valley on. The one in Pied du Col focalises on edible plants.

Description

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.