Remedies-Hintd

Herbs, Remedies, and Hints

Our ancestors learned ways to help heal small things, or clean without our modern conveniences. My uncle died at age 4 from the flu. A comment found indicated he may have been saved but there was not a drop of whisky found in the whole town. They put mud on bee stings, and sticky pine gum helped pull slivers out.

Sticky Pine Gum

Pinion pine trees produce stick sap whch runs in spots down the bark. This pine sap, called pine gum, could be used to pull slivers out, draw out inflamation, or infection from the body when made into a salve with healing properties.

Pine sap also turns hard and a golden brown. This can be chewed like chewing gum.

Here’s a blog from Joybileefarm.com on how to make pine gum salve today.

Bee Sting

One day, as a child walking through the clover on our front lawn, I stepped on a bee and it stung me. My mother scooped a handful of black mud from the ditch in front of the house and put it on the sting. The mud cooled the sting immediately.

Remedies that helped were:

Mud – wet cold mud cooled the sting.
Baking soda – may work better than Mud. Mixed with a little water to make a paste, put it on the sting to relieve the pain and itch.
Witch Hazel, – worked on reducing the itch and swelling of any insect bite.
Ice – Putting ice on the bite can reduce swelling and itching.
Garlic – a cruched garlic clove put on the sting helped reduce swelling and pain.

Some people are very alergic to bee stings. People could die from a sting. Medical attention may be needed. Watch for dizziness, swelling, hives, or other abnormalities. Now we can take Benedryl or us EpiPen.

Home Made Soap

My grandmother made her own soap used for washing clothes and bathing. This recipe was used by my Aunt Sarah May and written in her cookbook. I have not tried making it… Its best if you make this outside.

Small batch:

6 pints melted fat, beef or pork

1 can Lye
2 1/2 c. cold water
3 Tbsp borax
1/2 c. household ammonia

Mix water, Ammonia, borax, and lye together in an enamel pan. Use wooden spoon to stir. Be careful and not breathe the fumes any more than necessary. The water and lye mixture will be hot. Let cool to luke warm. Add fat at the same temperature, and stir until thick as honey. Let stand at least 24 hours. When it leaves the side of the pan, cut with a sharp knife in size desired. Let dry. Wrap in waxed paper to keep clean. If you like flaked soap, use a grater or grinder when it is partly dry.

My mother described Grandmother’s soap making as a long and tedious process. Here is a post from OffTheGridNews.com that describes the process closer to what Grandma did to make her soap.