Making Herbal Salve

I really like the whole idea of taking advantage of the healing power of weeds. I've gone so far as to cultivate or at least give a generous nudge to a few different plants that I knew would continue in my garden weather I liked it or now. German chamomile is one I'm not sure I'm so happy about, but it is pretty and easy to pull. I have a big hedge of comfrey, which is wonderful. I planted beautiful sunny calendula flowers years ago and, as my mom says, 'Once you have calendula, you always have calendula.' But it really is the flower that keeps on giving.

For years and years I've been learning how to use plants for their tonic and healing properties. Very casually, through books, workshops and even some college classes. I even managed to join a workshop with Susun Weed once. But I think because I've never had any friends who used them, I always felt a little strange taking them seriously. But now that I have kids, it feels more important to find ways of helping their little bodies heal themselves and teach them about the healing power of the plants around them. A lovely woman nearby in Vancouver has been offering classes on using herbs... teaching what she knows. And I have found her classes to be very supportive of the things I've always felt about herbal medicine. So I watch my kids, I get to understand their constitutions and their unique ways they each get sick and get better, and find herbs that will work as their allies in health.

This time of year is a great time to make herbal salves! A salve is like a little waxy cream you make that is infused w/ wonderful herbs. I like to use the sunny, orange calendula petals for their healing properties. But the past few years I have added comfrey leaf and plantain leaf. Both have been used in healing wounds and other skin ailments. My friend recently identified all the plantain on our property and I recently read its seeds are psyllium. The seeds you use to make a laxative.

Anyway, I had a few friends over to join me today, and Andrea, who just moved in down the road, kindly shared her pictures for this blog.

First the plants. Calendula is the beautiful orange flower. We picked a bunch of them and the kids pulled the petals out for us. I don't know if that is necessary, but it's a good way for kids to be involved. I love the way that big pile of flower petals looks. We included some comfrey leaves and also come plantain. You can see the comfrey, but at the time of the picture, the plantain was being washed. It grows so low to the ground, it always needs a bit of a cleaning.

Now to make some herb-infused oil. There are different ways of infusing an oil. The way that appeals to me most is to put mashed up herb in a jar w/ oil and leave it for a few weeks. Or even putting it in the slow-cooker on low for a few hours. But I was showing others how-to so we put it on fast-forward by cooking it lightly on the stove top. While it cooked, we ate lunch.

Now we need to strain out the herbs and turn the oil into a salve. First, we strained the herb/oil through some cheesecloth into a clean pan. This is your infused oil

We returned this to heat and added grated bees wax. How much was is up to you. For a salve that will not be liquid on a warm day, add 1 ½ ounce wax per pint of oil. You can add less, and it's just a big gloopier, but still works. It was nice that for the first time, I had some wax from our bee hives to add to the mix. Once that all melted, we poured it into our various jars, screwed the caps on and said our good-byes! So easy.

What do I use this salve on? I use it for dry skin, like hand cream. If someone gets a scape, they get some. Anything I would use A&D Ointment on, I use this instead. Especially when my kids get a sore bottom from when they have a sore tummy, diarrhea or just haven't been wiping well (mine are still little), I always put some salve on that sore little bottom and it seems to soothe it quickly. But my kids really like the idea of making these potions from healing plants and when I put a bit of 'healing salve' on their boo boos, I can tell it makes them feel cared for. And that is always the most important part, isn't it?