It’s Dandelion time!
We love these wonderful little flowers! Seeing their sunny faces dotting the countryside is a sure sign that summer is on its way. Besides trumpeting in a new season, dandelions provide loads of nutrition and are pretty 
multi-talented when it comes to providing health benefits.
The entire plant is edible and the flower serves as the main ingredient in a salve for dry skin and especially eczema. Plus, foraging for these flowers is super easy – as they are everywhere! There is a belief among herbalists that the more prolific an herb, the more the benefits and the more we need it.
Today we are going to teach you how to make your very own salve – it is so simple!
How to make Dandelion Salve!
The first step to making your salve is to collect the dandelions. Next, you will be making an infusion from the flowers. You can dry them for a day first to get rid of some moisture or put them straight into a jar with oil. Make sure the oil covers the flowers. A 16 oz jar will yield about an 8 oz cup of oil. You can choose your favourite oils like olive, coconut or sweet almond. For this recipe, I chose olive oil and avocado oil.
Let your oil sit in a dark place for a week. Don’t wait any longer or the oil will start to spoil. After a week, strain the flowers through cheesecloth. Squeeze hard! You want to get all the benefits of the flowers out. You will be left with a beautiful golden colour oil.
Dandelion Salve Recipe
For this recipe, you will need the Dandelion Infusion you just made and about 6 – 4 oz mason jars with labels. You can get these jars at any hardware store, grocery store, or can likely even re-purpose from jars you may have at home. The rest of the ingredients like beeswax, shea butter and essential oils are at any well-stocked health food store.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup dandelion infused oil
- 1 ounce beeswax
- 1 ounce refined shea butter
- 12-24 drops essential oils of your choice (lavender and sweet orange are two of my favourites)
Instructions
- Create a makeshift double boiler by putting a small bowl or a glass Pyrex measuring cup over a pot with about an inch of simmering water.
- Put the dandelion oil and beeswax into the small bowl or Pyrex, and heat until the beeswax completely dissolves into the oil, stirring occasionally.
- Add the shea butter and stir until it completely dissolves.
- Stir in the essential oils.
- Carefully pour the mixture into small jars or tins and let sit until the salve sets up completely.
Our salve turned out beautifully! The smell of the essential oils is glorious and the salve is so soothing for my hands, knees and elbows after a day in the garden. With the ingredients easily available, now is the time to get out and harvest your dandelion flowers before they are gone!
Photos courtesy of Linda Vanderstoop