This is the sixth post in a new series, in which Hive account@papa-pepper will share about different plants that they plan on growing on the homestead, and why.

Our sixth featured plant is Rabbit Tobacco, and it is already growing wild!

RABBIT TOBACCO VIDEO

BACKGROUND

Rabbit Tobacco AKA Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium (yeah, that's why I call it Rabbit Tobacco) is a most peculiar plant that I was first introduced to last year. I love learning about new beneficial wild plants, and this one was a pleasure to meet. The more that I looked into it, the more that I appreciated it. Thankfully, we even have some already growing on our land, and this will be our second year harvesting it.

PLANT INFO

The plant itself is an annual flowering herb that can be found across eastern North America. It can be found growing in fields and other undisturbed locations. When the plant dries, the leaved become a silvery color and, when crushed, smell like maple syrup.

The plant is especially easy to recognize once it is dry, but once you are familiar with it, it can be located when it is still green. It is not a particularly special wild flower to look at, but what it lacks in luster it makes up for in uses.

OTHER INFO

This is an incredibly useful plant for treating certain ailments. The Native Americans used it medicinally in many ways. From muscle cramps to colds and the flu, this plant is very useful as a tea, or even as something to smoke. Can you imagine smoking something to help with asthma? While that might sound strange, that is what many people still do with Rabbit Tobacco to help their issues.

Since the plant has antiviral properties and is claimed to have a positive effect on cancer, I like to use it periodically in some of my tea blends. Rabbit Tobacco is also a diuretic and expectorant. Some even use it as an insect and spider repellent.

It seems that the more I look into this plant, the more research and testimonies I find supporting the incredible possibilities of using this plant to help with various health issues. No wonder another common nickname for this plant "Life Everlasting."

PROPAGATION

Rabbit Tobacco is a type of cudweed. Cudweeds are annual or biennial plants, which means that they only for a season, or might grow for two consecutive years. With this being the case, the best way to make sure to get a yearly harvest is by collecting the mature flower heads in the fall which contain the fully developed seeds.

These seeds can then be sown the following spring to provide you with the plants for the next season.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Any opportunity to grow our own medicine is an opportunity that I would prefer to take advantage of. Having helpful plants available to treat our ailments is a huge blessing, so making sure that Rabbit Tobacco continues to grow on our homestead will be effort well rewarded.

As we move forward, we may even look into offering seeds or dried leaves up for sale, so this plant may not only be able to help our health, but our wealth too!