Good Monday Morning to you!
I hope your weekend was wonderful. Mine was full of time with kids, time with friends, and lots of fun, so we are starting this week off on a good vibe here around The Welcoming House.
And what a wonderful week we have ahead of here on the Blog! This week I have chosen to cover a little more in depth some of the basic ways that I use herbs to help with healing in my family. For those of you just joining us, I have actually written one book on the subject,
Growing your Own Medicine,
that was released back in March of this year
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to a very happy readership.
I have always been fascinated by the natural healing of the world around us, and the more that I have studied, the more that I have been amazed at what remedies lie around us that we are no longer aware of. From edible weeds and flowers, to how to cultivate many different kinds of herbs that originated in the wilds, the study just keeps leading me deeper and deeper into information that has had a profound impact on how I treat my family through some of the most common maladies known to mankind.
Today I am going to share with you how a common weed can have an enormous impact on your family in the way of bug repellent and an itch relief from bites.
This picture is of a common weed named Plantain.
As soon as I began to do research into this, I was astounded not only by its properties, but also by how prolific it is. It is a rare city, state, or country that plantain does not exist in. For us, it has propagated a nice little patch all through the front yard, which was wonderful for harvesting
for our needs.
Today I am going to show you step by step how to make a simple infused Plantain oil that when put on mosquito bites, takes the itch away immediately, and begins to relieve the swelling within minutes. Since there seem to be tons of mosquitos this year, this is a great and simple remedy to have on hand for your children. Mine will actually bring it to me asking to have it put on after they have been out playing in the yard, all because they know how well it works.
First, take a 2 cup glass measuring cup, and pack it as full of leaves as you can get. Take this inside and wash thoroughly. If you spray your lawn for bugs or weeds, this is not something you can make at home, because your plantain will be totally toxic to you. Try finding it in rural ditches or lots that have been abandoned.
Next, chop the well washed leaves into pieces and put into a heavy bottomed stock pan. Top with one cup coconut oil.
Turn on low and melt coconut oil, stirring well to wilt the plantain. Use a wooden spoon for best results.
In a solid quart canning jar, using a funnel, transfer the contents of the pan into the jar. I use a spatula to make sure that I get every last scrap I can, because the plantain has released a lot of juice while it has been wilting on low heat.
Next, get about 1/2 cup of lavender leaves, and add into the jar on top of the plantain. The lavender is for pain relief and is also a topical antiseptic for bites. Kids scratch and infection can happen, so this is to help keep the bites clean while they heal.
Top off the rest of the jar with extra virgin olive oil. Cap tightly, and place in a warm and sunny place for two weeks. Shake this when you think about it, to continue drawing out good healing gel from the plantain leaves.
At the end of two weeks, strain out the leaf material, and bottle up the Bug Bite Relief oil. Believe me, this stuff comes in handy, and works VERY well. 🙂
How long is it good for once the leaves are strained out?
If kept in a dark cupboard, this will last a good six months. You would most likely use it up before the oil begins to change. You can also add a tincture of benzoin as a preservative if you wanted, and that can be purchased at most health food stores.
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Another thing that plantain is good for is immediate relief from a bee sting. All you have to do is grab a couple leaves, chew them up, and put them directly on the sting. It will not only relieve the pain, it will heal the sting much more quickly, with far less swelling.
As with any herb or weed, make sure you don’t have allergies first by rubbing a swatch on the inside of your elbow and leave it for a time. If no redness or rash appears, then you are good to go.
Hope this is something new for you to try. I have been very happy with the results, and hope that some of you pin this for future reference. You can find my Pinterest button over to the right of the screen right next to where you can sign up for receiving my blog posts via email.
Have a wonderful day and check back tomorrow for another post on how to use Hyssop in your Simple Herbal Remedies medicine chest!If you are looking for a good place to purchase lavender, may I recommend Bulk Herb Store? They have fantastic products, and have a wonderful program for supporting bloggers like myself. Just click on the button below to go to their site and see their amazing products!
See you tomorrow as we talk about HyssopÂ
and Healing your family!
Blessings to you and yours,
Heather
Shared with Walking Redeemed Wednesday Link up,
and the Homestead Barn HopÂ
This is good stuff to know. Just looking at the oicture makes me think I have an abundance of this on hand. I know we have an abundance of bugs to try it out on. In my escapades there is almost a 100% certainty of getting bit or stung and the baking soda paste will take down the swelling but do nothing for the itch.
yes, a lot of people would say that if you use a baking soda paste, it will take care of it, but my kids are adamant that it has little to no effect. We have been very pleased with this and how well it works! Who knew? Common weed to common healing for a summer malady? Thanks for stopping by Craig!
Blessings to you and yours,
Heather
My husbands great grandmother had a similar recipe. We called it “drawing salve”. Apparently the recipe was a big family secret, as for years I tried to get it out of them. However, I “one-upped them. I got the recipe elsewhere ;-0 I attended an “Outdoors Woman” conference last month and took a medicinal herb class. I asked the instructor if he knew of a drawing salve that used anise? He gave me the plantain recipe. The anise, lavender or tea tree oil, are all antiseptics and/or used as a fragrance to cover the oil smell.
The method he gave me is easier, however longer.
Pack a quart canning jar with plantain leaves.
Fill with any kind of oil. He suggested olive.
Set in a sunny place to “cook” for a month.
Strain the oil into 2 oz. of melted beeswax.
Mix and store in babyfood jars.
My husband’s great grandmother’s recipe also used rosin, but I do not think that is an active ingredient, only a binder.
Very true. You can add 2 oz of beeswax to this and it becomes a soft salve. I also heat the product slightly to hurry up the process—I don’t want to have to wait for any length of time it seems, anymore. 🙂 I find the oil easier to use, and less time consuming. I also add the lavender because it really does help with the immediate pain relief from the bite or rash. Thanks SO MUCH for sharing with me! 🙂 Glad to have you commenting. 🙂
Blessings to you and yours,
~Heather
Any idea how to positively identify this weed? I went poking around the yard and found several that look kind of like it. I don’t want to waste time with the wrong stuff but we are in the peak of the summer wet/bug season and really wish to try this. It could save a fortune on benadryl and cortisone creams and has the benefit of being natural and I like that idea.
Sure Craig, you can see it here on this link in all the different stages: Here is a link on basic plantain: http://www.kingdomplantae.net/commonPlantain.php
I considered sending you a picture of my bug-bite covered arms and legs but decided to spare you. But I will say this little remedy is going to be tried at my house…and soon! Thank you so very much for linking this up with me!
ha ha–I considered posting pics of my Littles, who are allergic to mosquitos and swell up terribly, but figured that would be TMI for most folks. You can also use almost any mint, such as spearmint, etc, in a little vodka and water, and it will work well. Another quick bugspray is yellow listerine. Seriously. All are pretty effective at keeping those nasty creatures away from tender skin.
Blessings to you
~Heather