Thankfully, if you’re like us this last winter season was hard and cold and long, and so lots of little buggies met their Maker and were frozen off. But alas, while there may not be ‘hordes’ o
f insects this year, there’s still plenty to go around. (In fact, I just found a tick on me as I’m writing this. Seriously? 😛 ) Bees, and wasps, ticks and mosquitos among many others just go with summertime. With that in mind, we’ve been working on a couple salves this week to counteract some of the “bug blues”. The first is Black Drawing Salve.
Black Salve has been around for a long time. In our particular version of it we started with olive oil infused with Plantain. Plantain is a humble, homely little herb found in just about everybody’s back yard. It has some amazing medicinal properties. If you’re bitten or stung while outside, look around for this little plant, chew up a leaf till it’s goopy and stick it on the bite. It’s a wonderful wound-healer and is a remedy for many poisons. Also in our formula is charcoal and bentonite clay. These two medicines are the ‘drawing’ part of the Black Drawing Salve. Potent enough to draw out stingers, splinters, and poisons. Put this on after a bee or wasp sting, then cover it with a bandaid to keep the charcoal from staining clothing. Also works great on in-grown toenails and will draw out small-scale infections in injuries. Also in this salve is lavender and tea tree essential oils. Lavender is antiseptic and will help to cut pain and soothe, and tea tree is antibiotic and healing.
A second salve we’ve concocted is No-Itch Salve which is pretty self-explanatory in it’s function. Put it on skeeter bites, tick or spider bites, or other insect bites. Also works on skin rashes and poison ivy to help alleviate some of the itching. Our No-Itch Salve also has Plantain oil it, as well as beeswax, zinc 
oxide, and Camphor and Peppermint essential oils. The beeswax and zinc help with coating the insect bite and keeping the air out which is essential for relieving the itch. Camphor is well-known as an anti-itch helper. It can relieve inflamed, irritated skin and help with any pain. Peppermint is cooling to the skin which helps draw attention away from the itching.
Of course, with all this said, if you’re in any doubt about using these salves, please do check with your doctor, especially if you have something serious going on.
Hope y’all are having a great evening! 🙂 See you at the Market on Saturday!
Good info you might be interested in:
http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_plantain.htm
http://wellnessmama.com/8364/black-drawing-salve-recipe/
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The purpose of Jordan’s Crossing Herbal Connections is to promote the sharing of information about healthy, natural products and dietary supplements. JCHC’s views and opinions are INFORMATIONAL ONLY and are not intended to constitute medical advice. If you are sick, injured or pregnant, please consult a licensed health care professional.