Garden & Outdoor Recipes

QUICK TIPS FOR SUMMER SKIN

• Always test for allergic reactions before applying homemade remedies to your entire body. Put a little of the remedy on the inside crease of your elbow, and wait 15 minutes to an hour. If no reddening or blistering occurs, you should be safe to use the remedy.

No insect repellent is effective against all bugs all of the time. Essential oils are volatile, which means they evaporate quickly and must be reapplied regularly. If you get mosquito or chigger bites, rub tea tree oil on them for quick relief. Tea tree oil generally is safe to apply directly to the skin, but do an allergy test first.

  Caution:  Pregnant and nursing women should use essential oils with caution, under the supervision of their health-care professional. The information included in this article is not meant to take the place of professional medical advice.

Antiseptic Insect Repellent Skin Oil

Oregano, thyme and tea tree oils are very strong and pungent oils, so we suggest a skin test first; if it burns when you apply it, dilute it further or don’t use it.

1⁄2 cup almond, walnut or grapeseed oil
6 drops oregano, thyme or tea tree oil
4 drops each of up to four insect repellent oils (Tina prefers lemon and cedar oil in combination with vetiver, patchouli and sandlewood.) 

Add oil to a small clean bottle, preferably dark glass. Drop in the essential oils of your choice and shake well. Label and keep in a dark, cool place. 

Insect Repellent Neat’s-foot Oil

This is Tina’s recipe for applying to leather work boots, which conditions the boots and helps repel insects. 

7.5 ounce  bottle neat’s-foot oil
1⁄2 teaspoon each orange, eucalyptus and citronella essential oil 

Add the essential oils to the neat’s-foot oil bottle and shake well. Apply to boots as directed on bottle. 

Gardener’s Foot Powder

Keep your feet sweet while you work the peat. 

1⁄4 cup cornstarch
1⁄4 cup baking soda
10 drops each lavender and tea tree oils 

Put the cornstarch and baking soda in a jar, add the essential oils and stir to combine. 

Herbal Insect Repellent Vinegar

We pour our vinegars into spray bottles for easy application. 

2 cups fresh insect-repellent herbs such as orange peel, lemongrass and eucalyptus (See “Insect-Repellent Oils and Herbs”)
2 cups apple cider vinegar

Crush the herbs with a mortar and pestle. Place herbs in a glass quart jar and cover with vinegar. Use a plastic lid to seal the jar (vinegar corrodes metal). Shake every day for 3 to 7 days. It is best to filter the vinegar within a week and use it up within the year. The essential oils of the plants are volatile.

Antiseptic Essential Oils and Herbs

Calendula                                                                      Patchouli                                              
Eucalyptus                                                                    Rose geranium
Garlic                                                                            Rosemary
Goldenseal                                                                    Tea tree
Lavender                                                                       Thyme
Lemongrass                                                                  Vetiver
Oregano                                                                        Yarrow

Astringent Herbs

An astringent herb dries tissue and reduces discharge and secretions.  Most astringents contain tannins.

Comfrey
Plantain
Yarrow

Jewelweed Vinegar

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) grows in the wild, wet places in the Eastern United States. The juice of the plant is a traditional remedy for all sorts of skin ailments. We use it because it grows prolifically in our gardens. To use it, we simply crush the leaves and stems and rub the juice on itchy spots. To preserve and keep it handy we make this vinegar. 

1 cup fresh crushed jewelweed
2 cups apple cider vinegar 

Place jewelweed in glass quart jar. Cover with vinegar and seal jar with a plastic lid (vinegar corrodes metal). You can use it in a day or leave the herb in for up to four weeks. Pour vinegar through a cheesecloth-lined strainer. We add insect-repellent and antiseptic essential oils to the vinegar, ten drops each to a one-pint sprayer. The spray is kept nearby to subdue itchy fits and to re-apply insect-repellent oils. As a variation, we make Herbal Insect-Repellent Vinegar to mix with the Jewelweed Vinegar. The vinegars are good for about a year before losing their potency.

Insect-Repellent Oils and Herbs

Dilute these oils in a carrier, such as vinegar, witch hazel or a skin-nourishing oil (olive, almond, grapeseed, sesame or walnut) to deter mosquitoes, chiggers, gnats, ticks and biting flies.

East Indian lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus)
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus)
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia and L. xintermedia)
Lemon thyme (Thymus xcitriodorus)
Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum albescens)
Orange peel (Citrus sinensis)
Citronella (Cymbopogon nardus)
Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin) 
Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides)
Sandalwood (Santalum album)

Excerpt taken from the article posted on Mountain rose herbs newletter

  Article written by Tina Marie Wilcox and Susan Belsinger

www.mountainroseherbs.com