Plantain grows plentifully in our yard. I seem to have both broad-leafed and narrow-leaved plantain.
First I made plantain-infused olive oil -- I chopped the plantain and put it in my little crockpot, then covered with olive oil and heated on low for three hours, then strained out the plant material and let it cool. I recently read a suggestion to include lemon balm in the oil too; I'll do that next time. Maybe it will retain the lovely lemon scent.
It's hard to tell from the photo, but the oil is a pretty shade of dark olive green when the light strikes the side of the jar.
To make the salve, I used these basic directions. To the infused oil I added beeswax, vitamin E and a few drops of Sweetgrass fragrance oil. My first attempt was too hard -- too much beeswax -- so I reheated it and added a total of three additional tablespoons of infused oil before it was the right consistency. I added a few more drops of fragrance oil too, as it originally smelled a little too "plantainy".
Final result -- "boo boo cream". The size of the recipe I used (at the "basic directions" link) plus the extra 3 tablespoons of oil perfectly filled two tins that used to contain a popular "curiously strong" candy. The salve is a very pretty, opaque, light green color and has a light fragrance.
Foraging - related post
1 comment:
You are so awesome Kathi!! How you figure these things out...wow.
This would be great as many boo-boo's as we get around here everyday...and then there's the kids...lol
Where would one find beeswax?
You have my crafty itch needing scratched..now to get the energy to actually do it!
Post a Comment