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!

It seems ages ago now, although in fact it was only the weekend before last, but in my busy schedule I have only just got round to writing up my day at the Chorlton Big Green Festival. Never mind it was thankfully a memorable one.

Mind you the preparation for the day actually began weeks ago with planting out my Marigold seeds and building my new Ethnomedica stand. The last few days before Festival being given over to creating the mini herb garden with Karen from the Hulme Community Garden Centre and a mad panic rush getting my new practice leaflet printed. (Note to self: Don’t leave printing to the last minute; rows in print shops do not go along with my image of being a calm yummy herbalist!) Anyway eventually at about 10pm on the Friday eve I managed to collapse on the sofa with a can of cold beer having just dropped of umpteen boxes, bowls, posters, herb gardens and Marigolds at St Clements ready for the morning.

After all that, setting up was actually fairly straight forward. This gave me a little time before we opened to have a look around the site. I must say that the space we were in on the top floor of the Church was stunning with its beautiful window, arched ceiling and wooden floor, it added a calming spirit to the event. Outside in the grounds many other stall where busily being put up and delicious smells where wafting past from the various delicacies on offer from the food stalls. I was however quite glad that I was inside as although it was sunny it was cold!

Just before 11 Sue the Wellbeing space organiser (thanks for all the hard work Sue!) gathered all the stall holders together to introduce ourselves and after a bit of harmonious humming we opened to the public.

I must admit that the next five hours are a bit of a blur. I know I must have spoken to hundreds of people because my voice went very deep and croaky just before 4pm when I was due to start my herb walk. I don’t know if it was the Reiki from the next door stall holder, the emergency piece of cake I sent Brian out for or the sage leaves I chewed from my handy herb garden but by the time we gathered for the start of the walk I was back to normal, phew.

Judging from the cards in the Ethnomedica chest quite a lot of those hundreds where remembering their childhood herbal remedies and contributing to our project. Dock leaves for nettle stings as always where a favourite as was comfrey for bruises cuts and rheumatism. Nettle tea used as a hair conditioner was a new one on me but apparently it works. Others included Lavender for sleeping and warmed olive oil in the ear for earache. Big thanks for all who contributed; these will be sent on to Kew Gardens and added to the records.

Of course the major event of the afternoon was my demonstration of how to make a Marigold Healing Balm. I was a bit trepidatious about this to begin with as there where only about 2 people watching at the start but by the end there was quite a crowd. I feel really inspired by it actually and am thinking about developing Green Man Remedy Demo parties as a side line! Have included some pics of the demo, at some point I am going to do a video to add to my growing collection on YouTube.

So finally the day ended with my herb walk. This involved walking from the church down to Chorlton Green and back again; i.e. a very short distance. However we managed to see; Groundsel, Oregon Grape, Chickweed, Hawthorn, Daffodil, Herb Robert, Dandelion, Dock, Feverfew, Wood Avens, Nettles, Periwinkle and ending up under a beautiful Horse Chestnut tree who’s unctuous sticky buds where just opening up. Not bad for especially considering the late spring and the freezing wind!

Thankfully by the time I got back Brian had packed most of the stall away which just left me the heavy stuff to lug to the car (thanks B!). This gave me just enough time to hang out with some old and new friends before it was back home for tea.

All told this was a really successful and enjoyable day. It was a shame I didn’t have time to also enjoy the rest of the festival but hey I’m not complaining. Thanks again to the organisers of the festival and to those who visited the Wellbeing area and my stall for making it such a great day.

Now is the time that the beautiful little coltsfoot flowers begin to appear. These are perhaps the earliest spring flowers, along with the snow drops and crocuses. They tend to grow on waste land so are good one for city dwellers to spot. Mind you if you are gathering them try to find a place free of dogs!

I have make a… cough syrup from these using a similar process to the one I use for my Thyme & Onion Syrup.

I also found this great blog called Eat Weeds that has an intersting page on Coltsfoot with a video by Chris Holland showing how to identify the plant and introducing the culinary and medicinal properties.

These are some pics of Coltsfoot I found on wikimedia common:

Happy New Year! As the winter takes its toll and there seems to be lots of nasties floating about I have written up my recipe for Thyme & Onion Cough Syrup, one of my beat flu remedies.

This is really easy to make, using simple ingredients that you may have in the kitchen cupboard. I developed this recipe from one given to me by my friend Kath which was passed to her through her family. It is therefore a real traditional family remedy which is used because it works!

In fact onions are one of the main plants that people tend to remember being used as medicine. Kew Gardens is currently collecting many of these recipes as part of their Ethnomedica Project. I am in the process of becoming a volunteer for this project so that I can help to record our oral traditions and hopefully revive some of these old remedies.