I had better get my act together and quickly clean up the stove top from slowly melting beeswax (although I guess that is edible), jars of herbal oil and a mess of patiently waiting containers strewn across the counter... more then I could say for some hungry teenagers who were thundering down the stairs.
As you may have guessed, I ran out of an herbal salve. Surprisingly it lasted an entire year, although like any large family, I tend to make things in bulk... sometimes too much bulk. However, in my opinion, there is no such thing as having too many herbs.
As my teenager entered the kitchen, his eyes nearly popped out of his head as he slowly beheld the sight before him. He couldn't believe his sense of smell had deceived him, or rather that he had mistaken the heavenly smell of fresh Calendula oil to something mysteriously delicious coming out of the kitchen that could (or so he thought), satisfy both his taste buds as well as the bottomless pit of his stomach.
"Um, mom, what's for dinner?" he asked rather hesitantly.
At this point I was feeling quite proud that my herbal kitchen was smelling good enough to lure the unsuspecting teenager down two flights of stairs. Grinning like a little child from ear to ear, I answered in a half serious tone of voice, "Herbal Salve."
By now he was getting worried. I should stop here and inform you that I still had one hour to dinner time. This gave me plenty of time to clean up the pots, beeswax, herbal oils, small containers, measuring cups and essential oils that had taken over my kitchen, and whip up (with help from my husband), some veggie burgers, homemade fries and salad. But with no dinner in sight, and a teenager who was beginning to question both his survival and his mother's sense of humor, I would say I was right on schedule to clean up the apothecary, or as my little sister calls it, witch-crafting, and tackle dinner preparations.
I think it's every herbalist's dream to have a separate kitchen for herbal preparations, however it has definitely been fun sharing the vast and beautiful world of herbal medicine with our children.
So what, you may ask, is the recipe for the salve I ran out of? I came across this recipe a few years ago in Rosemary Gladstar's book, Herbs for Children's Health.
She writes, "An herbal salve made with St. John's wort, comfrey, and calendula is one of the best remedies I know of for rashes, scrapes, and other skin irritations." ...."This is my very favorite salve recipe for diaper rash. It's also useful for soothing and healing cuts, scrapes, burns, and other skin irritations."....
This has probably become one of our favorite and most used salves. There are a few ways to make an herbal oil and some nice demonstrations are provided on YouTube. When I'm in a rush I let the herbs steep in a double boiler over a low flame for several hours. Another method that I personally like is to put the herbs in a large mason jar, cover with olive oil, cap it, cover it and let it sit for 10 days on a heating pad. (Make sure the heating pad does not have an automatic shut off.)
All Purpose Skin Salve:
1 part calendula flower oil
1 part comfrey leaf oil
1 part St. John's wort flower oil (must be made with fresh St. John's wort and not dried.)
Measure out 8 oz of herbal oil and mix with 1 oz of melted beeswax.
After everything is poured out into containers, I add a few drops of essential oils before it cools and hardens. (This week I used Lavender essential oil and Frankincense essential oil.) Then I let them sit out to cool. You can put them in the fridge to cool down faster, however you might not get that professional smooth look once it all hardens.
And yes, dinner was ready on time. :)
