One week with my produce, I got comfrey. I had no idea what it was or what to do with it. Often with the produce we get a little list of ideas or recipes that might be worth trying. That week included a recipe for COMFREY SALVE. So, what the heck. I thought I would give it a try.
The recipe I had calls for:
Comfrey Salve:
1/2 cup Vaseline
1/2 cup beeswax
1/2 cup chopped comfrey leaf
Wash and cut the comfrey leaves into small pieces (use scissors to dice them up rather small).
In a double broiler melt the beeswax and the Vaseline.
Add the comfrey leaves and allow them to steep for several hours on very low heat (another option is to place the pan of leaves and wax in the sun on a very hot day and allow it to steep this way.
Strain the salve thru a piece of cheese cloth and store it back in the Vaseline jar.
This is the best salve you will ever use...it stops itching immediately even on chigger bites and heals cuts very quickly.
As for a testimonial of the comfrey salve and how well it works. It does really help with the itchy bites. I just used it on ant bite (not fire ant) and it worked great. We have been using it on mosquito bites and it is working well. It is a little waxy, I might use more Vaseline next time. And when I was making it, I thought it smelled a little medicinal, so I added some mint, chocolate mint and lavender that I had. Now it smells better. Last little note, it is really waxy when you are making it and it is hard to get your pot clean. I should have used a pan just for crafty things like this (and it splattered up on my shirt and is hard to get it out). But all in all, it was a good experiment. Again, I LOVE learning new things. Who knew I would learn to make homemade medicine.
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10 comments:
How fun! A friend made some Calendula Salve for me. Now, if you get some of that, you'll have to tell me what the benefits are. I haven't quite figured that out yet. But I've used it for dry skin... It doesn't smell like anything much...though just opening it up to smell it I think it might be going rancid a bit...so I guess that's a hint to keep your salve in a cool place!
Cool! I went through a phase where I made lots of homemade herbal salves and creams. You can use some sort of oil such as grapeseed or almond, etc. in place of the vaseline so your product will be petroleum free.
I meant to tell you when I was there, I bought a BIG cheap pot at Old Time Pottery. I forget what size it is, but it's got a glass lid, and it is tall and deep. I bought it for soap making, and it was only $10. I don't know if you have any OTP's up there, but you might look for something like that.
Thanks for sharing some with me. I agree - it is great for scratches, bites, and it seems to be helping my heat rash.
Cool! Good for you!
Good for you! I love experimenting. For that wax stain, you might want to dry pre-treating it with Dawn dish soap. It's a good pretreatment for cooking oil, and I'm thinking it might work on the wax.
Sounds cool. I wonder how long it will keep and be good for?? Your like a little Amish mama...fun!
Pretty cool! Good process picures, too. And seeing the splatter on your shirt reminds we readers to wear an apron.
Oh life lived at the pace to be able to make our own "medicine"? How I would love that. How precious....
Thanks for sharing it. I can enjoy it vicariously. :)
Two days home from the hospital, I return to work tomorrow.
I may need some "comfrey salve" for the soul. :)
Neat.... it is fun trying new things.
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