Herbal Healing Salve

I make a batch of healing salve every year or two. We've found it works well for cuts, scrapes, insect bites and burns. In fact, on a burn it seems to relieve the pain rather quickly. I keep a large jar in my medicine cabinet and a couple of small jars go into my purse and first aid kits. For containers I got these small jars from Mountain Rose Herbs (I've also seen them on Amazon):

Plastic jars from Mountain Rose Herbs. 2-4 oz sizes are good for salve.

To make the herb infused oil you want to take olive oil and either cover your chosen herbs with oil in a jar and let them sit for 3-6 weeks, shaking the jar each day OR steep them in warm oil for a few hours and then strain the herbs out. If you don't want to go through the trouble of making the infused oil you could use plain olive oil and add essential oils for the herbs you want to use. 

You might be able to wild harvest some of your herbs. I am able to find St. John's Wort and Plantain on our property and I'm still searching for more medicinal herbs that I can harvest!

my recipe:

1 cup herbal infused oil (any mixture of St. John's Wort, Plantain, Calendula, and/ or Comfrey)

1 - 2 oz. Beeswax (depending on how thick you want it to be)

2 1/2 tsp or 10 capsules Vitamin E Oil 

½ tsp. each Tea Tree and Lavender essential oils

Simply melt your bees wax in a double boiler, add the oil, vitamin E (to preserve your salve) and last your chosen essential oils.

Pour the salve into containers and allow it to cool.

my last (very well used) batch of salve. it's going to be
time for a fresh one soon!

This could be made without the vitamin E and will last 6-9 months stored at room temperature. I would really recommend using it if you can, it makes the salve last much longer.
They make nice gifts too!

Homemade herbal tincture: Dandelion root

If you looked at my garden, before we tilled for planting, you would think I had planted it with dandelion on purpose. It was full of them! So was my yard, but I don't mind them. How else does a 5 yr old get to bring Mommy flowers?

It is a surprisingly useful herb. The young leaves are good added to salad; the flowers can be brewed for tea or battered and fried for dandelion fritters; a yellow dye can be made from boiling the flowers; the root can be roasted, ground and brewed as a coffee substitute or made into an herbal tincture. Amazingly, researchers are even studying whether dandelion can kill some cancers!


Dandelion benefits:

• a mild diuretic
• stimulates and detoxes the liver
• high in potassium and vitamin A  
• mild laxative
• Improves digestion 

To make a tincture, harvest the roots from an area that has not been treated with any chemicals such as weed killers.

Wash them well, chop, and place in a mason jar.

Fill the jar with Vodka until the chopped root is just covered. Close jar, label and date it. That's it!

Allow it to sit for 3 weeks, at room temperature, shaking the jar once a day. Strain the roots out with cheese cloth and put the tincture into a dark dropper bottle.


how to use:
take 1-3 ml (20 - 60 drops) in juice, tea or water, up to three times a day.