Calendula Salve
I made a batch of calendula salve recently with some of the flowers from my garden. It’s a wonderful thing to have around the house – helps to heal cuts, sun and windburn, eczema, fungal infections, and many other types of owies.
The flowers look so pretty that I hate to do it…
…but in goes enough olive oil to just cover the flowers. Let this sit in a warm and/or sunny spot for a week or two.
Strain the flowers out of the oil.
Add 1 part of grated beeswax for every 4 parts of oil. Warm the oil and wax over medium low heat in an empty can set into a saucepan of water (I pinched the edge of the can to make a pouring spout, see earlier photo).
When the wax has melted, pour the mixture into a clean container, and voila – you’re “savvy”!
You make it look so easy and elegant!!!
That looks wonderful!
I wish my calendula had come up this year…*sniff*
I love how-to posts, because usually I’m starting from the point of knowing nothing. I’ll have to keep track of this and try it out next year.
Thanks, Carla. It actually is easy, though!
Steph – Sorry to hear your calendula didn’t come up this year. I hate it when that happens.
Thistlebee – Let me know how it turns out!
My calendula flowers have been soaking in the oil about a week and are looking and smelling a little rancid- is that normal?? could i have done something wrong?
McVeggie – I don't think smelling rancid is normal. Was the oil fresh? The flowers do smell a little funny after a while though. If it's really hot where you are, maybe things got a little too warm. You could go ahead and mix some or all of it with the beeswax and see if it mellows out.
It got really smelly and had slimy gunk covering the flowers, so i had to toss it. I think the mistake i made was that i washed the flowers and put them in the oil wet? Anyway i will try another batch in a couple days once i get enough flowers.
Yeah, slimy and smelly sounds bad. 😀
I think you're right about washing the flowers – the excess moisture would probably encourage it to spoil.