The Beauty and Benefits of Calendula

Do you have a calendula plant in your garden?

The bright cheerful calendula, or marigold, is cultivated in the kitchen garden for making teas, broths and medicines .

Calendula is making a comeback in the modern first-aid kit as a salve, and as old-fashioned beauty care.

I just love calendula for its sunny golden beauty.

This recipe for Calendula Herbal Salve is distributed on a leaflet from my local 'organic health shop'.

If you're pressed for time as I am, calendula salve and ointment can be bought ready made from your Health Shop or via Amazon..

Knob of butter

1 sweet onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup Granny Smith apple, coarsely chopped

1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cumnin

Kilo of carrots, coarsely chopped

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 cup milk

1 cup fresh calendula petals

Infuse 1 heaping tablespoon of dried flowers per cup of hot water. Drink 2 to 4 cups each day, or soak a clean cloth in the tea and apply locally.

Calendula, the Common Marigold, is a lovely and instantly recognisable plant with its pale-green leaves and golden orange flowers. It's called after the ancient Roman calends which were the first days of every month and the start of the new moon cycle. (Presumably they were called this because they are in bloom at the start of most months of the year).

In Italy, the idea of the calends is kept in the name by which calendula is often called, the fiore d'ogni mese, the flower of every month.

In earlier times Persians and Greeks used it as a food garnish, mostly in soups and stews, while in Europe, it was used to colour butter and cheese. In India, the bright calendula is used to decorate Temple Altars.

In Australia, we use it as a garnish for food, for medicinal purposes, and blooming in our gardens just for the sheer beauty of it.

wikinedia commons

We have always turned to plants, fungus, shells and aromatic substances for treatment of ailments since prehistoric times.

Calendula has high amounts of flavonoids, plant-based antioxidants and anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antibacterial effects

Oral forms of calendula have been used historically to treat stomach irritation and ulcers. Calendula tea for example, or broth, has some antispasmodic properties so it relieves muscle tightness.

Folk medicine, or 'grandmothers' medicine' has advised women to use calendula for relief from muscle spasms and cramps.

Flora von Deutschland, Ãsterreich und der Schweiz

A good, basic handbook/manual for herbalists.

A manual for anyone serious about throwing out store bought, chemical filled cosmetics.

It's a clear overview of herbs and spices, oils and flowers such as strawberries, baking soda and papayas to use in your own products.

The Beauty and Benefits of Dandelions
Do you remember playing with Dandelion Clocks? We used to tell the time by counting how many puffs it took to denude a dandelion - is this something everyon...

The Beauty and Benefits of Violets
Don't go looking for roses and walk, unseeing, past the violets. It's hard to imagine how anyone can resist a posy of sweet violets, viola ordorata, so appea...

The Beauty and Benefits of Sunflowers
You can't mistake a sunflower. It's impossible to mistake a sunflower. Sunflowers are incredibly useful. The valuable edible oil has more Vitamin E than any...