Marigolds/ Calendula

 

the humble marigold

 

should be a staple in everyones' garden

 

it attracts harmful nematodes to it's own roots and away from your plants

some say it works and some say it doesn't, but either way it is

a bright happy flower standing sentry around the

garden perimeter

 

it can be fed to chickens to deepen the color of the egg yolks

 

it can be used for dye

 

 

 

 

the species

 Calendula

or pot-marigold

 is a tasty addition to fresh salads,

add the petals to rice dishes

sprinkle them over scrambled eggs

and it makes a calming tea

 

 

 Calendula can be made into a soothing salve used for healing and minor burns

it is good for chapped lips

diaper rash 

 

to make the healing salve:

steep on low,

 1 cup  fresh Calendula petals tyed in cheesecloth

 in 1 cup oil for 4 hours do not burn!

try using a small crock-pot on the warm setting

add 4-6 tbs. beeswax

20 drops of lavender oil

(note:  for some the lavender oil may cause skin irritation,

 but it is a good anti-viral and anti-bacterial)

pour into small jelly jars

do not place the lids on until it has throughly cooled

 so excess moisture can escape

 

 

for a lip balm

use 1/8 cup of the above recipe

 add 1-2 tbs. more beeswax

 2 capsules of vitamin E

 and pour into a small jar or empty lip balm cases

(try coloring this lip balm with kool-aid, just add a small amount of the packet  into the hot liquid and stir until dissolved, keep adding until you get the desired color wanted)

 

 hand/facial cream

 I leave out the lavender oil and add a little more beeswax  to make it a thicker consistency. 

 add 5 capsules of vitamin E , 2 Tbs. solid coconut oil,  and a little honey

 This is especially good for sensitive skin.

 

 

 

 

PINE GUM SALVE

I consider myself one of the lucky ones on this beautiful earth.  I was raised in a small town, my grandparents lived next door and I gleaned from them all the traditions of self-reliance passed down generation to generation.  How to grow vegetables through the winter using solar pits dug on the south side  of the house foundation, heated with manure from the barn.  Using low tunnels to extend the seasons, the art of putting by, (canning), bread baking, butchering, things you read about in newly published books, the authors' acting like they had just invented this wonderful discovery, when all along it was the way of life not many years ago.


 I have fond memories of a childhood spent learning all I could about the simplicities of life.  I knew even way back then, that living close to the earth was a blessing and privilege.

PINE GUM--
We would gather the sap from the gnarly, twisted, pinion pine trees.  Grandma would look for just the right consistency in the sap and then removing the bark and needles she would pop it into her mouth  (pine...... gum).  I would also try to chew it, if the sap wasn't just right it would fall apart in your mouth leaving a bitter taste.  More often than not I would be spitting the crumbled bitter sap on the ground.  I eventually gave up trying to chew pine gum.  It is however good for the health of your gums.

The sap would be saved.  The fresh sticky sap would go into it's own container to be use directly on wounds, sores, etc, and the hard solid clumps would be added to rendered fat and made into PINE GUM SALVE.

We doctor animals and humans when they are wounded, it draws out wood, metal, or glass splinters, it takes away the sting of bees and wasps, or fire ant bites.  Eliminates the itch and swelling of mesquito bites.  Sooths chapped lips and hands.  Draws the infection from wounds and helps them heal.   Our medicine chest is contained in one bottle.  I figure if pine gum salve won't cure it then nothing will.  I have cured gangrene and horrible infections........ disclaimer ,once again please consult your doctor for any medical needs........


RECIPE FOR PINE GUM SALVE-----old fashioned way------

1 part mutton tallow , 2 parts pine gum (use a mixture of gums, the sticky clear, the fairly stiff yellow and the hardened deep orange)

Turpentine, Lysol, champor, or carbolic acid can be added if desired-------I usually don't------

Place in a tin can and heat on your wood stove for a couple of days--stir often

The impurities, bark and dirt will settle to the bottom of the can

Pour through a couple of layers of cheese cloth into jars

I have had this salve keep 7 to 10 years in a cool, dark, dry place



MUTTON TALLOW------collect the hard fat from around the kidneys as you are doing your fall butchering.  I have also used tallow from lambs and goats.  Do not use other animals fats.  They are not of a hard enough consistency.  Freeze the fat until you are ready to render it.
To render fat:
  Place in a cast iron pan and cook over low heat.  If I am doing a large amount I place it in a large bowl or dutch oven and use the oven on a low 250-300 degree setting.

rendering fat

strain liquid fat into a large bowl

add cold water to the fat

add enough water to allow the fat to rise above the water and form a

hard gel

the cold water will cause some of the fat to harden

stir until the fat is dissolved

place in the fridge or a cool place so the fat will harden

the impurities in the fat will be on the bottom

scrape all impurities off the block with the back of a knife

dig out any spots that may be embedded in the tallow

freeze tallow until needed

rendered fat and pine gum

place in a tin can and heat for several days on the wood stove

if you are unfortunate not to have a wood burning stove use a pan filled with water

on the stove top and simmer for 6 to 8 hours.  Add water as needed.

pour warm liquid into jars

NOTE:  if the consistency doesn't seem right reheat and add more fat for a more solid salve, and if it seems to solid--reheat and add more pine gum (my preference) or try adding a little olive oil or Vaseline

if you choose not to use animal by products try this: 

HERE ARE A COUPLE OF RECIPES WITHOUT USING TALLOW

1. 

Infuse pine gum sap in a pint jar filled with olive oil.  For this method the harder chunks of sap work best.  Break into small pieces.  Place in a warm spot (sunny south window) for 3 weeks shaking daily.  Pour strained oil into a tin can and either heat on a wood stove or in a hot water bath on the burner.  Add enough beeswax to make a solid salve. ( don't like this as well, I prefer salves with the sap as part of the salve, not just an infusion)

 2.

I invented this recipe after a long winter of cracked, dry hands

CRICKET'S HONEY PINE HAND CREAM

To 1 cup pine gum

add 1/2c.- 3/4c. tallow (or use shortening)

heat for several days on wood stove

strain through cheese cloth

return to heat

 add 1 small jar of Vaseline, about 4 oz.

2-4 tbs. honey

1/4 cup almond oil

 2-8 tbs. beeswax, ( depending on the consistency you like)

1 tsp. Castor oil (optional)

 4 capsules liquid vitamin E (drain contents from capsules)

 2 tbs. solid coconut oil

Heat all ingredients gently for several hours and pour into small jars.

use as a salve for dry hands and feet

If your hands are extremely chapped try this.  Use a liberal amount of the salve rubbing in well.  Place a large plastic bag over each hand and then a sock over the bag to keep it from falling off and leave on over night.  I don't recommend this overnight treatment for your face however:)!!!!!

3. 

1/2 c. pine gum

1/2c. honey comb with honey

Heat and pour into jars. 

 This smells wonderful.

  Use as a healing salve. 

 Honey also has beneficial healing properties.

4.

 Melt the sap in olive oil over low heat, simmer without boiling for 4 hours.  Strain.  Add beeswax.  Pour into jars when wax is melted.

Over 30 plus years of making this salve, my experience has been that the olive oil goes rancid faster than the tallow.

Please share any recipes or experiences you have had using this wonderful natural remedy.

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!

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COMFREY SALVE

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FarmHer  JILL

COMFREY/ COMFREY SALVE

I have always had an herb garden.  Culinary herbs that flavor the bounty from the garden.   Sage, thyme, oregano, tarragon, savory, dill......... Fresh scented, aromatic herbs to tuck in between the linens,............... lemon balm, mint, lavender,..... or make a tea to calm or rejuvenate you,........... but my favorite herbs are the medicinal ones that can cure a headache, draw the infection from a wound, and allow you better, over-all health.  This will be the year I begin my certification to become a Master Herbalist.  Something I have always wanted to do, but I  threw all my energy into producing acres of vegetables and living a sustainable life that took up all my time and effort so I never accomplished my desire to become a herbalist.   Everything and everyone has a season.  It is my season now to slow down a bit,  paint more , wander more, create more, breath deeper, enjoy the late summer of my life.  Yes I will still garden, I am rooted in the soil, but it will be a smaller garden only two or three acres.

Comfrey is one of my favorite herbs.
Every house needs comfrey at the door.  Knitbone as it was referred to in Culpepper's time is an herb that we can't live without here at the farm.  We use it for wounds, bruises, cracked hands and feet, and to sooth an itchy rash.  We feed it to chickens and rabbits in small helpings. 

HERE ARE A FEW OF OUR EXPERIENCES USING COMFREY:   Years ago when we first bought the farm  moving my comfrey to our new home was the first priority.  Being a farmer's daughter and spending all day under the sun year after year, and now year after year growing vegetables has taken it's toll on my skin.  I had a particularly large, deep, pre-cancer dug out of the front of  my cheek.  The doctor informed me that I would have a big hole in my face.  I let it scab up a day or two and then applied comfrey salve and covered it with a band aid for a couple of weeks, applying salve and changing the bandage  daily.  At my next visit 6 months later to have more from a different area removed the doctor was AMAZED that no scaring had occurred and asked what I had done to prevent it.   Just said, " hummmmmm", and semi-rolled his eyes when I told him what I had used----- some home-made comfrey salve.  I have even cleared up small patches of the pre cancer sores using just the salve.--------DISCLAIMER-------I am not giving out medical advice, please contact your physician for any medical attention.

My oldest daughter gashed her leg wide open on a nail.  It was a 4 or 5 inch long 1/2 deep cut.  I know, I know , it was something that we should of had stitched up, but we cleaned it well and applied comfrey salve and butterfly taped it together the best we could.  Kept a clean dressing and salve on for a couple of weeks.  She doesn't even have a scar.

Glen,  the boys and I were building a green house onto the front of the barn.  Glen is a big, strong, burly man and was  on a ladder, holding a roofing beam on his shoulder, wrapping his left arm around the beam to keep it in place and then hammering the nails in with his right hand.  Needless to say the awkwardness of the angle caused him to miss swing and hit his finger.  The force of the blow blew  the end of his finger off , (it looked like the back of a pop-can that had been shot, how it splits in several places and rolls back) it split his nail clear down past the cuticle length-wise in 3 places.  It was not a pretty sight.  I got down off my ladder and ran to the comfrey patch.  Grabbed a large handful of comfrey and chewed it up and  carefully placed it on his finger.  Then I wrapped it in gauze and tape.  We placed chewed comfrey on several times  a day for 3 or 4 days then switched to the comfrey salve I make.

Usually when extensive damage is done to a fingernail, the nail does not grow back in normally.  Can you tell which finger was smashed?

comfrey in bloom

Now is a good time to plant comfrey.  If getting some from a friend or neighbor, cut the leaves off at soil level.  Harvest the leaves by bundling and hanging up to dry.  Dig out the entire root ball and shake off the excess soil.  Carefully divide the roots.  Plant each root separately.  I usually divide in the early spring, but fall plantings generally take hold and grow well.  Don't wait to long, you want the root to establish itself before winter.