Plantain and Chickweed Strike again!!!

So, 2 weeks ago I started the oil of chickweed and an oil of plantain. I didn't have any time on Wednesday or Thursday to do anything with the oil so I let it macerate a few days longer. Today, a friend came over with her son who was covered in hives. He had used some fresh plantain on some of the hives and it gave relief of itching and took away the angry look of most the hives. However, she didn't have access to loads of plantain for the hives to continue applying it and she was growing weary of giving him Benadryl which wasn't really working very well. When she got to my home, it occurred to me that the plantain oil was ready to press out and make into salve. I told her if she stuck around, I would make some up for her.

Earlier this morning, I had gotten out The School of Natural Healing and looked up hives. Dr. Christopher recommended chickweed for the hives. So, we made a salve of 50% chickweed and 50% plantain. I measured 2 ounces of each oil (total 4 ounces) and then 1/4 ounce of beeswax. I just melted the beeswax in a stainless steel saucepan and then added the oils. Adding the oils caused some of the beeswax to clump up again, so we stirred until thoroughly mixed and melted but not hot on low heat. We sterilized a jar and then, after the mixture was finished, we poured it into the jar and let it cool. Then we capped it. The tiny bit left in the bottom of the pot was rubbed all over the hives and they too began to cool. The salve we created with smooth, applied well, and didn't have a goopy consistency. It is a little thin for "packing" but it is fabulous for massaging into something. To thicken the salve, add a little more beeswax.

CSA weeds again!

Today at the CSA the U-pick fields for parsley and cilantro were open. I love the fresh cilantro and parsley! There was a tiny sign that said, "Weeding welcome." I promptly got to work weeding and pulling out the gorgeous young plantain plants among the parsley. The young plantain (Plantago major) can be used in salads and are high in calcium, vitamin C, iron, choline, zinc, and a whole host of healing compounds and other vitamins and trace minerals. This time, rather than eating it in our salad, I decided to make some salve with it. Plantain is fabulous for bug bites. It is also good for cuts and helps to draw out contaminants and heal without scarring. When my second child was 2, she got poked near her eye with a plastic pipe. I had NOTHING in terms of first aid stuff because we were moving and all the stuff was packed at the apartment and not on me 25 miles away at the house. I went outside and found some plantain leaves, mushed them up, and then put them on her wound. When we got home, I had forgotten about it. I didn't get my normal complete tissue salve on her wound until the next day. She healed up quickly, no scarring, no infection. I did not know that Plantain contained allantoin which is a cell proliferant and aucubin which is antibacterial.
So, back to my salve I am making. First I have to make an oil infusion. To do this, I let the leaves wilt for about 12 hours to help some of the water content evaporate out so I don't spoil my oil. I then took each leaf and brushed off all the residual dirt and placed them in a jar. I covered the leaves with olive oil. Then I roughly blended up the leaves and oil so the leaves were about the size of peas and then poured it back into the jar. I covered with a cloth napkin to allow the water to evaporate but keep dust out of my oil. I put my oil jar in the bottom of my dehydrator set to 95 degrees. It is not necessary to do this, but it helps to get the water out quickly so the oil doesn't go rancid. I will leave this in the dehydrator for 3 days or so (I have other things dehydrating in there like red clover blossoms, parsley, peppermint, etc so the electricity is going to good use. I also put a jar of chickweed oil infusion in. After about 3 days, I will leave the jars in a darker spot on my counter, still covered with a napkin, so the oil sits a total of 2 weeks. I will press out the oil and then allow it to sit undisturbed in the jar for a few more days so the oil and water and leftover sludge separate. I will then decant the oil. Depending my how much water is left over, I will repeat one more time. In about 3 weeks I will make my salve. Yes, this is time intensive in that it must sit on the counter but fresh salve is so much better than store-bought. And it costs a fraction of the bought product.