Don't Leaf Me Alone

The “healing leaf", as John’s mom called it, is growing strong in this neck of the woods. Actually it grows just about everywhere man has put his foot. The plantain is a major ingredient in the salves I make.

Primarily plantain is used for all disorders of the respiratory organs. It is used for those with weak kidneys as well as treating eczema, liver and bladder disorders and the list goes on.
I have concentrated on the skin healing abilities of course and have used it for over 30 years now. And in the last few years I have been making salves and selling them and getting good reports.

Yesterday I went out and picked some to make my oil infusion today. If the plant is clean I don’t bother washing it, but these leaves had sand on them from one of the areas on our property. I gently washed them then put them in the salad spinner to get the left over sand and most of the water off.

I then lay them out on a cotton towel and let them dry overnight to get rid of a good amount of water. I will chop them up, put them in a quart jar and pour olive oil over them, making sure to get the air bubbles out and the plant under the oil. Then I let it sit for about 4-6 weeks, strain the herb off and bottle it. I keep it in the fridge until I am ready to combine it with other herbs to make my salves.

People have used my salve for babies butts to a regular skin care routine at night. Or it's used on cuts, scrapes, etc. I make no claims. But......they do.

How to Make Fresh Herb Tea

When you think of tea what do you envision? A little bag with a string attached? A teaspoon of loose leaves dancing in a pot of boiled water? Chances are you will only be seeing a once fresh herb in its dried state.

When John serves up a pot of fresh picked nettle tea on his herb walks sometimes someone will say, “I thought you had to dry it first”. Nope. If it’s available it's even better fresh. That goes for mint leaves as well as other herbs. If it’s there use it. Dry the excess for those cold winter nights or days.

Here is how I make my tea:

Go out in the morning and cut a bunch of mint and nettles. I use the stems and leaves. The amount I figured on was enough to loosely fill a 1/2 gallon canning jar.

I cut my herbs up as I put them in the jar. I think you get more out of them that way.
Boil up some water. Pour it over the leaves to fill the jar.
Just put the cap on but don’t screw it down.
If you’re going to drink it hot then strain off the leaves and drink in about 15 minutes.
For iced I leave them steeping a little longer and strain and refrigerate. You will be amazed how wonderful, soothing, refreshing it tastes. And if you have a bit of intestinal upsets it is very therapeutic.
A note; it is best not to ball up your herbs in those tea ball things.They need to float freely to release their full affective strength. As a matter of fact...so do we. Ahhhh Fweedom.