Re: Healing salve, was Re: [gardeners] Thursday in the garden
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 27 Oct 2000 10:48:11 -0500
It's pretty simple to make Ron. Use a double boiler and liquify about as much
petroleum jelly (generic vaseline) as you want salve, put the washed and dried
calendula blossom petals into the liquid, about as many as you can get in the
amount you have liquified. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, let sit overnight
to saturate the liquid. Next day heat jelly again and strain out the petals. I
bought some salve jars off the internet and use those for the salve. They hold
about 2 ounces IIRC and have metal lids. You get a scratch or abrasion you rub a
miniscule amount of salve on it and it helps it heal quicker. I picked the
recipe up somewhere on a mailing list but don't remember where. I make no
warranties as to efficacy or dangers. Your Mileage May Vary.
George
Ron Hay wrote:
>
> Good morning, George,
>
> It is nice to hear of your garden thriving. Ours is, as well, especially
> our outrageous macadamia, which is now in its 4th growth spurt this
> year, having grown about a foot in the last two weeks (!)
>
> The star of our fall garden is our newest rose, "Diana, Princess of
> Wales." What an exquisite blossom! It's all peaches and cream and
> absolutely perfectly formed and a delight to behold. I hope the blossoms
> will have longer stems next year, as it has been in our front rose
> garden for only a few months now.
>
> We, too have planted calendulas, both pale yellow and rich golden-hued
> ones. Not many, since we are using them as a filler until some of the
> winter bulbs raise their little green heads.
>
> Your mention of a calendula-based healing cream fascinates me. How do
> you prepare it?
>
> When our Australian tea tree (melaleuca alternifolia) is a good-sized
> shrub in a couple of years, we plan to harvest some of the leaves to
> distill into tea tree oil, one of God's most marvelous healing oils. My
> wife, Vivian, has been plagued with psoriasis on her elbows and knees
> for years, but since I "discovered " tea tree oil on the net several
> months ago, her patches continue to diminish, with regular application
> of tto. It is nature's bactericide, fungicide and all-around "medicine
> kit in a bottle, as they say."
>
> We just picked our pomegranates this week. I cleaned several and will
> make a wonderful fruit salad out of them, sliced almonds, chopped dates,
> golden raisins and a nectar consisiting of the juice of half an orange
> blended with half a ripe papaya. Simply marvelous. When I made it for
> the first time last year, at Christmas, to take to Chula Vista where
> Viv's sister and her mother live, she warned me not to be disappointed
> if no one ate more than a polite taste, since it was "unusual." Well, I
> mean to tell you, there was about enough left over to put into a tiny
> container to take home:)
>
> The fuyu persimmon are wonderful this year. I harvested about 5, with
> about 45 left on our little 12' tall tree. This morning, I nuked one for
> three minutes and we enjoyed it with our oatmeal. I only nuked one to
> see how it would turn out. It turned out absolutely delicious! I enjoy
> eating them crisp, but Vivian, not a fan of crisp apples, either,
> usually waits until they get kinda soft and mushy....which is not my
> thing.
>
> Our Italian frying pepper plant has about 15 good sized ones on there to
> harvest. Have not taken any off since last week, because our
> unseasonably early cool weather and rain (!) has not allowed them to
> develop that lovely blush.
>
> In about another month, our Mandarins will be ripe. It will be our first
> real crop, since the neighbors cut down the Eugenia berry hedge that was
> blocking half the day's sunlight from them.
>
> The Bearss lime tree is amazing! There must be 200 ripening limes on the
> tree, some of which I have utilized to a great extent, in my foray into
> Persian and Armenian cooking. What a treat to have such lovely fruit
> available at this time of year. It is still rather amazing to this kid
> who grew up on Long Island.
>
> Well, my friend(s), be well and enjoy the warmth of the fall sun on your
> shoulders as you garden:)
>
> Ron