Natural Remedies - Plantain Balm

The path up to the bushcraft shelter at Wildly Curious seems to be providing an ideal habitat for greater plantain (Plantago major) to flourish.

Plantain, both the greater and the ribwort varieties are great for nettle stings and other occasions when you might need an anti-histamine.

We set about making Greater Plantain Balm with recent Wildly Curious groups. This is what we did:

Collect about 50 plantain leaves. Notice how the stringy bits are springy!
Wash them. Dry them. Tear them into little pieces. Put them in a saucepan. TOP TIP: smear washing up liquid around the outside of the pan to make the soot easy to wash off.
Add 5 tablespoons of coconut oil. TOP TIP: warm it first as it’s easier to measure out when it’s in liquid form.
Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
Put the pan over the fire and heat gently for about 15 minutes or until the leaves have lost their bright fresh green appearance. Stir occasionally.
Remove from the heat and sieve, discarding the leaves and keeping the oils. Wipe out the pan if necessary.
Replace the oil in the pan and add a bar of beeswax (ours were 1oz blocks). Stir to melt.
Pour into clean jars. Add a label so you know what it is!