Originally Posted by habitat_gardener
I make my own herbal salve with calendula flowers, plantain leaves, nettles, lemon balm, lavender, echinacea leaves, and yarrow (plus beeswax and olive oil and larrea leaves). I have all of the herbs (not larrea) growing in my garden, though last year when I gave a demo I ended up buying calendula flowers because I didn't have enough on hand. In the past I've also used comfrey leaf/root and chickweed.
Calendula grows all over the community garden. If you get seed, go for the single flowers, not the double ones. Makes a good salve all by itself.
Ditto for plantain. My first choice for a bandaid in the garden. Just chew up a leaf to get the juices flowing and apply.
I transplanted nettles from another garden. I tried seeds and nothing came up.
Lemon balm reseeds easily, so if it's anywhere in your neighborhood, you'll have it. I bought my first one at a nursery, though.
I have grown lavender from seed, but my current lavenders started out as tiny seedlings from the nursery. I rub lavender leaves on my hair and skin when the mosquitoes are out.
Echinacea also came from the nursery, in 6-packs. I've separated 6-packs into 9-11 plants, then grew them out in separate pots. It goes dormant in the fall, and then the birds like to nibble on the new leaves when they emerge in the spring, so it helps to mark the location and protect it early in the season. I use whatever cultivar is available -- E. purpurea. I'd use roots in tinctures, but for salves, I prefer leaves.
Yarrow came from garden exchanges. The most potent medicinally is the straight species with white flowers, Achillea millefolium.
I use larrea as an antioxidant, to keep the oil/salve from going bad. You could also use vitamin E or other antioxidants.
You could make a pretty good salve with just a few herbs, whatever is available locally and whatever grows well for you.
Comfrey is wonderful, but some herbalists are raising alarms at the pyrrolizidine alkaloids in it, so for public herb demos, I don't use it.
Dry the herbs before adding to oil! Water in the herbal oil will make it go bad fast.
Grapeseed oil is also good for the skin.
Instead of beeswax, you could experiment with shea butter or cocoa butter, or just use the herbal oil.
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