OK with St. Pat’s Day coming up, I’ll be making an herbal “green salad” with chickweed, dandelion greens, etc. But I’m just as excited about this recipe that I’m sharing using chickweed (and calendula perhaps) as a salve!
How about that?
a “loyal listener” sent me this recipe from the Learning Herbs website.She adapted it only slightly and after she made it she said it’s one of the nicest salves for skin.
I’m gathering chickweed to make it tomorrow. How fun that somethings Mother Nature gives you to eat can heal your skin as well.
This recipe is quite detailed to give excellent results.
Now with St. Patrick’s Day coming up, “green” up your salad with some, yes, fresh chickweed!
CHICKWEED SALVE
Nice for bug bites, hot rashes, clean wounds, diaper rash, or any other itchy skin conditions.Adding calendula makes it even more healing and good for your skin.
Ingredients
•2 large handfuls of fresh chickweed
•1 1/4 cups olive oil
•1 ounce beeswax
•30 to 50 drops lavender essential oil (optional)
•Instructions
•Prep the day before: Chop the chickweed finely and arrange it into a thin layer on a cutting board or cookie sheet. Allow to wilt for 12 to 24 hours.
•The next day: Measure out 1 1/4 cups olive oil in a measuring cup. Add the wilted chickweed to the olive oil. You’ll get the best results if there is roughly an equal amount of chickweed to olive oil, meaning that when you combine the two, there isn’t a lot of extra oil compared to chickweed or vice versa.
•Place the chickweed and olive oil in a blender or food processor. Blend for 15 to 20 seconds or until the chickweed and olive oil are well blended. (This breaks up the cell walls, helping the extraction process. However, this step can be skipped.)
• Place the chickweed and olive oil mixture in the top part of a double boiler, or place a bowl on top of a pan that has 2 inches of water in it (the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl).
• Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Stir the oil occasionally and continue until the oil is quite warm to the touch. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to sit for several hours.
•Repeat this process (reheating and allowing to cool) 2 times within a 24 hour period to fully extract the plant material into the oil. Throughout this process, do not let the oil get so hot that it smokes or that the plant material begins to “fry” and get crispy – you only need to get the oil warm to extract the goodness in the plant material.
•When the chickweed has infused well with the oil, the oil will have taken on green color.
•Then strain off the chickweed through a double layer of cheese cloth.
•Measure out 1 cup of the infused oil. (Extra oil can be used as a body moisturizer. If you don’t have a cup of oil, add a little plain olive oil to make up the difference.)
•Using a double boiler or in a pan on very low heat, melt the beeswax. (Tip: the smaller your pieces of beeswax, the easier it will melt.)
•Once the beeswax is liquid, add the chickweed oil. Stir well to combine, using as little heat
as possible.
•Add the lavender essential oil, if using. Immediately pour the salve into tins or glass jars.
• Let the salve cool until it hardens. Label and store in a cool place. This salve will last for a year, if not longer.
•TO MAKE CHICKWEED CALENDULA SALVE
Add a handful of dried calendula petals to the fresh chickweed infusion and go from there.