Homemade Plantain Salve

Goodbye, Neosporin.

It's nothing personal.

I just found something I like better. And I can make it myself, with 3 simple ingredients.

You can, too! Here is the recipe I use for simple, homemade Plantain Salve.

Use it to soothe bee stings, bug bites, minor cuts and scraps... it even helps my mama with her eczema, which has plagued her elbows and ankles for years.

It's a common backyard weed. If you're outside and you get stung, you can use it straight up from the plant- simply pick a plantain leaf, chew it for a second, and rub it on your sting. Instant relief. It will reduce inflammation and help promote healing.

If you would like to harvest some to make an easy ointment, it's super easy.
All you need:

1-2 cups of Fresh Plantain leaves
1-2 cups of Olive Oil
2 ounces shredded Beeswax

Pick your plantain when it is DRY. Brush off the dirt, with a dry paper towel. You don't want any extra moisture, it will shorten the shelf-life of your salve. You want them as clean and dry as possible. Sort out and discard any leaves with noticeable decay or bug debris. Fresh, clean, dry leaves.

Chop up the plantain in a food processor or blender. Remember, don't add water, we want to get rid of moisture, not add it. The plant itself is going to naturally have moisture in it.

Infuse olive oil with the chopped up plantain. You can do this in a few different ways. I just low-low heat, (NOT BOIL) carefully stirring the oil with the leaves in it for about an hour. Some people let the oil sit in the sun with the leaves for several days.

Next, you'll want to use a cheesecloth, or jelly bag with fine-mesh strainer and strain all the plant pieces out of the oil.

Now, shave off a couple ounces of beeswax. A good rule of thumb is to measure 1 ounce of beeswax per cup of infused oil. Finely shred it and slowly, slowly melt it in a saucepan. Do not let this cool, keep it in melted state on low, low heat.

Gently add the plantain oil to the wax.

Next, you'll want to pour this mixture directly into whatever containers you are using, because it solidifies as it cools. It will be really dark when you first pour it, then it lightens as it cools.

Small mason jars work well, and I like to use small plastic bead containers, because they make perfect to-go ointment cases for carrying in your purse or day bag on summer hikes, camping and picnics. And they fit nicely in small first-aid kits. Let it cool completely before lidding it.

This salve will easily last a full year.

Happy healing!

"Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them,
and reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth." -Jeremiah 33:6