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I had a neat opportunity to take a quicky plant medicines workshop last week with George Hedgepeth. During the course we made a general salve. The salve is made of the following medicinal ingredients:
Plantain leaves,
Yarrow leaves,
Tea tree oil,
Golden seal,
The leaves (about a handful each <-- measurement not that critical, but the more you pack in the more potent the extract) were harvested but the tea tree oil and golden seal (powder) were in this case purchased by the instructor prior to class. His recipe is simple, basically a handful of leaves for each and a couple of tablespoons of the tea tree oil and golden seal powder added to edible oil (he used olive oil) in a mason jar. The jar was stored for about 10 days prior making the salve in a dark place to extract the medicinal components. He bruised all the leaves first by pounding them prior to adding them to the oil.
On making the salve, he melted some bees wax, filtered the oil containing the herbs and combined them hot in a 1:3 mixture of beeswax to oil. He then poured them into small tins and as they cooled they hardened up into a waxy salve. Quite a bit harder then the salves you would buy (which almost feel like vaseline), this salve hardens to a point where you can just rub it off on your finger and apply it rather than dip your finger into the hardened mixture.
Okay - why is it a survival salve and why would you bother to make it and bring it?
The herbal ingredients provide a general concoction for treating wounds, cuts, skin irritations, insect bites ect. The main ingredients: Yarrow is in an astringent that stops bleeding and has antibacterial properties. The plantain extracts reduce inflammation. The tea tree oil and goldenseal also have strong anti-bacterial properties and are good for helping heal wounds. So you can use this salve as an all rounder - ouch it hurts, apply some of that stuff and put on a bandaid kind of thing.
But there is more to salve than just salve. That somewhat hardened beeswax can be used as a flame extender and make an emergency candle. The salve can be applied to leather as a leather treatment and to reinforce waterproofing, likewise it can be applied to fabric to increase water resistance and wind resistance if you had to. You can apply the wax coating to your blade in case you are really, really anal about keeping it shiny (as so many around here seem to be afflicted with). Also works great as lip balm.
Maybe just having a little bit of oil-cut paraffin would also be really great. The medicine salve retains the properties of the bees wax while giving it some medicinal qualities. Is it better than triple-antibiotic ointment? Probably not, but it has anti-inflammatory ingredients and astringent properties as well and combined with the fire/leather treatment aspects seems to provide a good multi-use kit item.
Note, I'm not trying to promote herbal medicines above a modern FAK. You should always have some modern first aid materials including sterile wipes for wound management. However, for minor irritations, bug bites and small wounds, I've had success with this mixture. Great for mosquito bites, scratches and small cuts which have been cleaned and sterilized by conventional means.
Anyhow, I thought I'd post and see if anybody else has a multi-use salve like this. Its relatively easy to make, costs little and can pack into a nice small container of your choice. You can put the stuff into anything able to withstand the hot melted liquid poured into it.
George Hedgepeth spooning the melted mixture into tins...
Plants:
Narrow leaf plantain (you can also use broad leaf plantain)
Yarrow
Please be 100% certain of your plant idea before making an oil infusion.
Plantain leaves,
Yarrow leaves,
Tea tree oil,
Golden seal,
The leaves (about a handful each <-- measurement not that critical, but the more you pack in the more potent the extract) were harvested but the tea tree oil and golden seal (powder) were in this case purchased by the instructor prior to class. His recipe is simple, basically a handful of leaves for each and a couple of tablespoons of the tea tree oil and golden seal powder added to edible oil (he used olive oil) in a mason jar. The jar was stored for about 10 days prior making the salve in a dark place to extract the medicinal components. He bruised all the leaves first by pounding them prior to adding them to the oil.
On making the salve, he melted some bees wax, filtered the oil containing the herbs and combined them hot in a 1:3 mixture of beeswax to oil. He then poured them into small tins and as they cooled they hardened up into a waxy salve. Quite a bit harder then the salves you would buy (which almost feel like vaseline), this salve hardens to a point where you can just rub it off on your finger and apply it rather than dip your finger into the hardened mixture.
Okay - why is it a survival salve and why would you bother to make it and bring it?
The herbal ingredients provide a general concoction for treating wounds, cuts, skin irritations, insect bites ect. The main ingredients: Yarrow is in an astringent that stops bleeding and has antibacterial properties. The plantain extracts reduce inflammation. The tea tree oil and goldenseal also have strong anti-bacterial properties and are good for helping heal wounds. So you can use this salve as an all rounder - ouch it hurts, apply some of that stuff and put on a bandaid kind of thing.
But there is more to salve than just salve. That somewhat hardened beeswax can be used as a flame extender and make an emergency candle. The salve can be applied to leather as a leather treatment and to reinforce waterproofing, likewise it can be applied to fabric to increase water resistance and wind resistance if you had to. You can apply the wax coating to your blade in case you are really, really anal about keeping it shiny (as so many around here seem to be afflicted with). Also works great as lip balm.
Maybe just having a little bit of oil-cut paraffin would also be really great. The medicine salve retains the properties of the bees wax while giving it some medicinal qualities. Is it better than triple-antibiotic ointment? Probably not, but it has anti-inflammatory ingredients and astringent properties as well and combined with the fire/leather treatment aspects seems to provide a good multi-use kit item.
Note, I'm not trying to promote herbal medicines above a modern FAK. You should always have some modern first aid materials including sterile wipes for wound management. However, for minor irritations, bug bites and small wounds, I've had success with this mixture. Great for mosquito bites, scratches and small cuts which have been cleaned and sterilized by conventional means.
Anyhow, I thought I'd post and see if anybody else has a multi-use salve like this. Its relatively easy to make, costs little and can pack into a nice small container of your choice. You can put the stuff into anything able to withstand the hot melted liquid poured into it.
George Hedgepeth spooning the melted mixture into tins...
Plants:
Narrow leaf plantain (you can also use broad leaf plantain)
Yarrow
Please be 100% certain of your plant idea before making an oil infusion.
