Plantain Salve Workshop

Plantain Salve Workshop

On August 8th, the participants from the wild edibles hike regrouped for part two of the workshop. Over the last six weeks, we’ve been tending to our plantain infused olive oil, in preparation for the final product. Joy and Joanna of Pure Joy Herbal Creations led the group on another hike to scope out how the wild herbs had grown over the summer. After the hike, we made a healing salve, using our plantain oil and beeswax. Such a simple process for this incredibly useful herbal remedy.

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Broad Leaf Plantain

Often considered a weed, plantain holds powerful skin-healing properties in its broad, heavily veined leaves. It’s been used medicinally for centuries and is considered to be almost a cure-all. Plantain is very high in beta carotene (A) and calcium. It also provides ascorbic acid (C), vitamin K, and a bunch of other notable chemicals. These give plantain mild anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-hemorrhagic, and expectorant actions (a medicine that promotes secretion to treat coughs). There are a few ways ways to use plantain leaves- as a tea or tincture, healing salve, an oil infusion, or even just by rubbing the leaf on effected areas of the skin. The natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of plantain leaf make it great for healing wounds, itchy skin, or pain associated with skin problems. Some other uses for plantain include:

  • speeding up cell regeneration
  • skin softening
  • treatment for lung conditions such as bronchitis or asthma
  • easing skin inflammations (perfect for eczema and psoriasis)
  • soothing stings, bites, scrapes, cuts, rashes, ringworm, and poison ivy
  • soothes sunburns and windburns
  • relief from pink eye
  • an alternative to lotions to soothe babies’ sensitive skin

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Wild Edibles Herb Walk and Workshop

Wild Edibles Herb Walk and Workshop

On June 20, The Abundance Project hosted a wild edibles herb walk, led by Joanna Wiersma and Joy Cameron of Pure Joy Herbal Creations.  The interest in this workshop was tremendous, and we ended up adding a second session that afternoon. The hike took place at Red Cloud Country Retreat, in 50 acres of lush forest and field.

The sun was shining and the groups were eager to learn more about wild herbs that grow all around us. During the hike, Joanna and Joy identified a wide variety of plants and herbs with positive health benefits, whether consumed fresh in salads or prepared in creams and salves. While walking, we picked some wild plantain, took it back to the house and prepared an oil infusion. For the next six weeks, we will put a little TLC into our plantain oil, in preparation for a follow up workshop where we will use the finished oil to make a healing salve.

The Hike

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The Workshop

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Thanks to Joanna and Joy for providing such an informative and enjoyable workshop. We came out of this understanding more about the wild plants that many of us find in our backyards. Maybe we can even save ourselves some of that weeding next spring.

Stay tuned to see how our plantain salve turns out in our follow up workshop in August.

You can purchase the herbal creations of Joanna and Joy over at their website, Pure Joy Herbal Creations.