So if you have been following my Marigold video’s on YouTube here is the final instalment, How to Make a Marigold Healing Balm. If not then check out how to plant the seeds and pot on the seedlings on my Marigold page. Although initially I was going to do another planting them out I realised that maybe that would have been overkill on the horticulture and decided to go straight to the main event!

On this vid you can see me gathering Marigolds on my allotment. I love this bit because I am so in love with my allotment. I think you can just make out on either side of the Marigolds my Brassica bed which is producing the most enormous cabbages and cauliflowers at the moment. In the background is a lovely patch of Meadowsweet that lives on the border of our pond that is full of Water Lilly’s. Anyway perhaps I should do a pictorial tour at some point but for now I digress!

Back at the dispensary I then demonstrate how to make the Balm. To make 90g of Balm (which is a lot, you could happily half these amounts and still have a lot of balm!) you will need 80g of coconut oil. This can now be bought from most supermarkets or Asian food shops and is solid at room temperature. If you can’t find any then vegetable shortening will be fine.

Next you need 60g of Marigold flowers. It might be that the amount of balm that you can make will depend on how many flowers you have. If you only have a few plants then you can gather, weigh and dry your flowers whilst more grow. If you keep gathering they will keep coming and within a few weeks you will have enough. Weighing them before drying will mean that you know how much of the fresh flowers you had so that you can follow this recipe, you can mix fresh and dried flowers when making the balm. For the medicinal properties of Marigolds visit my Marigold page.

Ok so you also need 8g of beeswax. This is easily sourced off eBay, Neal’s Yard or Baldwins. If you want to make a vegan balm then you could use cocoa butter or emulsifying wax obtainable from the above. These help to set the balm so that it remains solid at warmer temperatures.

You will also need some Lavender and Tea Tree essential oils. The Lavender is very soothing, anti–inflammatory and also incredibly good for burns. The Tea Tree is anti-microbial and along with the Marigold makes this Balm antiseptic. You could add other essential oils if you like such as Ravensara that combines well with the Tea Tree for cold sores.

Everything else that you need and the instructions of how to make the balm are on the video. Once made the balm will last for a few years as the Marigold and essential oils will preserve it. What tends to happen is the bright gold colour fades and the essential oils evaporate. When this happens you will know that it has lost its potency and its time to make another one!

Use the Balm where ever the skin needs support in healing for example on cuts, grazes, after shaving, on chafing, blisters etc. Or where there is tissue damage on eg bruises, sprains, burns etc. Or as an antiseptic on spots, fungal infections, cold sores etc. I have also used it on insect bites. If you involve your kids in making the balm and because the Lavender is very soothing it can be helpful as a magic balm for any bumps, knocks or upsets.

So I hope that you have fun making this balm and that you find it a useful addition to your first aid box. Please let me know about your experiences making and using it and happy making!

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Thanks to everyone who attended the Hulme Herb Walk last week and survived the heat! I think it was probably the hottest day of the year so far, good job I brought the sun cream with me.

Of course it almost had to be called off as the week before, the council in their wisdom had strimmed the whole area, decimating quite a few of the plants I wanted to show. Thankfully the were not very efficient and had missed quite a few. However it was not exactly the meadows filled with beautiful wildflowers that I was hoping for. Oh well I suppose I was wanting to show the survival of our native species against the adversity of inner city living! Anyway we managed to see about 20 plants out of the 28 I had planned in an hour and a half, ending back at the Garden Centre for a cup of fresh Lyme flower or hay-fever tea. All in all a very pleasant if a little heat exhausting event.

What this event also allowed me to do was to set up my new stall! This is something I have been working on over the past few months developing lots of new products. I am now selling lots of soaps, teas, creams, bath oils, flower water spritzers and a range of tinctures which can be used for sleep, hay-fever, stress, digestive problems…. Anyhow here are some pics from the walk and a video of me waffling about the Elder……again! Scroll down for more news about the stall!

My new stall

I have mainly been thinking about doing the stall at festivals and markets but setting it up at the Garden Centre, especially in their cute little hut, has given me the idea of making it a permanent fixture there. So over the next few months I am going to be running it once a month to trial how it goes with the hope that it could run once a month. This is great opportunity to come and trial some herbal medicine and have a chat with me about how it could help you or your family.

First stall is this Saturday 10th July 11.30 – 3.30pm with other stalls on Saturday 21st August and 11th September, same time.

Well here it is my second installment of my Marigold Healing Balm Project.

Here I demonstrate how to pot on the seedlings that have grown from the seeds planted in my first video.

I am really looking forward to these going onto the allotment and fingers crossed producing a load of beautiful sunny flowers.

Next Gathering and Making the Balm!

Here is the first installment of my Marigold Project where over the coming months I am going to show you how to grow, harvest and use Marigolds. In this video I demonstrate how to plant up the seeds to grow in a propagator. Hope you find this helpful, let me know what you think!

Visit my Marigold page to find out more about this beautiful herb and project.