Gardener, heal thyself.

I am here today to promise the Universe (and therefore myself) that this is the last blog post I will write until I have finished and turned in the paper about this blog that I must submit in order to graduate.  Priorities, Maggie, priorities! 



However, with that said...since we can't be out in the garden right now, playing with herbs--do you want to play in the kitchen with herbs instead?  Even better, do you want to play with healing herbs and skip the culinary stuff we already know for now? 



Calendula: still blooming in late December

Yes?  Great!  

As you know, in the middle of my frenzied just-before-Christmas whir of potionmaking, I did make a batch of herbal salve, but I am not entirely sure that I achieved the consistency in the final product that I had envisioned.  To be honest, there were beeswax and olive oil flying hither and yon all over my kitchen in various proportions, and eventually I was just throwing chunks of wax in jars without any coherent attempt at measurement.

I tell you this for two reasons. 

1.  You may have been a recipient of the salve and wonder what the heck I was thinking with the goopy stuff in the jar.  I wasn't thinking; I just owe you another chunk of beeswax.

2.  A salve of olive oil and beeswax is actually whatever you want it to be, and that includes the consistency.  Which means that there is a big range in the ratios of oil to wax that are all appropriate, and as potionmaker, you get to decide which you like best.   There is a simple way to do this, and if I hadn't been in such a flurry of multi-tasking before the holidays, I would have taken the time to do so.  More on that ahead.

[This may be obvious, but just in case you are not accustomed to thinking about recipes in terms of ratios, here is how to measure your ingredients this way:  for a ratio of oil to beeswax that is 3:1 (three-to-one), you want three parts oil to one part beeswax (in the sentence, oil is mentioned first and beeswax second, so oil corresponds to the 3 and beeswax to the 1).  You can decide that any given amount is one "part"--if you decide that 1/4 cup is one "part," you would use 3/4 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of beeswax and end up with a total of one cup in a 3:1 ratio of oil to wax.]
 OK.  Here is the recipe:

Herbal Healing Salve

Ingredients:


Olive oil
Beeswax
Dried herbs
Essential oil for scent (optional)

First, infuse the oil with herbs:


Method #1


The best way to infuse an oil takes time and sunlight: place the herbs in a lidded glass container and cover them with the oil, making sure they are entirely submerged, then cover the jar and put it in a sunny, warm place for 2 weeks. Be smart about this:  make sure everything is scrupulously clean and then dried thoroughly to avoid growing a science experiment along with your infusion.  Strain the herbs from the oil with a piece of cheesecloth, old stockings, coffee filter or similar, according to directions in Method #2 below. Put new herbs in the jar, cover with the infused oil, and repeat the process for another 2 weeks. Strain and store in a cool, dark place.


Method #2

Take a canning jar or other heat-resistant glass container and fill it ¾ full with the healing herbs of your choice. Pour enough olive oil over the herbs to cover them by an inch or so. Put the jar in a pan of water on the stove and heat very slowly over low heat. (Or, heat the oil and herbs in your crockpot, or use a double boiler on the stove.) Stir gently every so often. You want to extract the good stuff from the herbs without browning them or deep-frying them in the oil, or letting the oil boil—lower heat and longer infusing is the goal. Shoot for an hour of infusing, and feel free to go longer.


Strain the oil: take a mesh strainer and line it with cheesecloth or a thin fabric like muslin. Strain the oil. It may take a while to drain through the fabric. Once most of the oil has drained through, gather up the cloth with the herbs inside and wring the last of the herbal oil out.


Making the Ointment/Salve/Balm:


The rest is simple. For every cup of herbal oil, use roughly ¼ cup of beeswax. If you grate or chop the beeswax, it melts more quickly. Add the beeswax to the herbal oil and heat slowly to melt the wax. Stir well, but gently. If you’d like, stir in a few drops of essential oil, avoiding anything that might be too harsh for the skin like peppermint or clove. (Lavender or rose essential oils are always good for skin products. Citrus scents, while yummy, dissipate quickly.)


Here is the time to check the consistency of the salve: dribble a little on a saucer and put it in the freezer for a few minutes. If it cools and is too hard, add more oil to the original and test again. If it is too soft or goopy, melt more beeswax into it. The ratio of oil to beeswax can range from 3:1 to 8:1 depending on your preference.


Once you have the desired consistency, pour the warm salve into the containers in which you wish to keep it. Stored in a cool, dark place, the salve can last for up to a year. If you use any fresh herbs when infusing the oil, wilt them to remove as much moisture as possible before adding them to the oil.


Note on ingredients:


Olive oil is a good oil to use for cosmetic and healing purposes. You can use either regular or extra-virgin olive oil (I buy the regular stuff in bulk at Costco, since the regular oil is preferred for making soap). You can also use oils such as apricot, almond, avocado, and jojoba which are great for the skin. Grapeseed oil is good for really oily skin. The less processed, the better—“cold-pressed” is good to see on the label.


Beeswax is cheaper when you can buy larger quantities. Also, keep in mind that a big hunk of it will last quite a while. I get it at a health food store or from a farmers market, but you could also see if you can find a local beekeepers association or club and see what they say. I’ve picked it up at the big beekeeping area at the State Fair before and that was cheaper than my normal store.


The herbs I used in the salve for Christmas were: comfrey, plantain, calendula, rosebuds, rosemary, peppermint, lemon balm, lavender, red clover (listed in roughly descending order of amounts used—again, I don’t measure). The finished balm has a mild, earthy, green smell that I like, without any essential oils added. Sandalwood or rose essential oils (or a few drops of both) would be delicious too.


Other good skin-healing herbs are chickweed and chamomile. If I had to pick just a few to use, I would choose comfrey, plantain, and calendula. Calendula and comfrey should be fairly easy to find; you want calendula flowers and comfrey leaves or roots. Comfrey roots are more potent and should possibly be limited to external use only (so avoid in lip balm, for example), although in that debate, I am firmly aligned on the pro-comfrey side. Plantain is probably more difficult to buy, because it is an extremely common weed. Use the leaves--we are talking about Plantego major, not those strange green bananas at the grocery.


Important enough to mention twice: if you re-use glass jars and containers (jelly jars are nice, or small mustard jars, baby food jars, etc.) make sure to remove any paper or cardboard liners in the lids. If you leave those in place, bacteria will get between the lid and the liner, and you’ll end up with mold. Similarly, make sure the jars are entirely clean and DRY before you fill them with salve—moisture will cause problems.

Bonus: save a bit of your infused oil for a wonderful, healing lip balm.
This is by far my new favorite creation at the ol’ Hanna-Goeglein camp. We have one small container in our house, and so far, I am hording it for myself.


Peppermint-Honey Healing Lip Balm:
Take two tablespoons of oil in a heat-proof glass container, set the jar in a saucepan with a few inches of water in it. Add two teaspoons of beeswax. (If you preferred to weigh your ingredients, use 30 grams of oil and 7.5 grams of beeswax or a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1.) Heat slowly on low heat until the beeswax is melted. Remove from heat. Add a dollop of raw honey if desired and stir well. Stir in a few drops of peppermint essential oil (or other varieties, but be careful not to use too much). Pour into small tubs, let cool, and blissfully slather on your lips, cuticles, cuts, scratches, etc. You can try to re-use old lip balm tube containers that have been cleaned very gently (wipe out and then disinfect with vinegar; dishwasher and even hot soapy water may damage them).