Apothecary Arts

Posted by Kenza for Kathleen (technical difficulties)

During the first eight week session of our 'Apothecary Arts' classes, the 1st & 2nd grade children learned how to make a 'Comfrey-Plantain' salve. They created books to document the process, made beautiful leaf rubbings to study the intricate vein patterns of each plant, and listened to stories characterizing the healing properties of comfrey and plantain. They harvested the comfrey from our Orchard gardens and the plantain from our Campus grounds, where it grows wild. The leaves were dried over a two week duration. The children then tore and crushed the dried leaves and filled individual mason jars half full with the herbs, adding one cup of organic olive oil. This is called the 'infusion' process. After two weeks of infusing the herbs and oil, shaking them regularly, and keeping them in sunlight, they were ready to be processed into salve. Each child strained their jars of the mixture through cheesecloth into a large pan, adding in vitamin E and lavender oil for scent and preservation. We then warmed it over a pan of hot water. In another pan we melted organic beeswax pearls and mixed them in with the warm oils. The children filled the prepared jars with the warm golden liquid and watched the magical alchemy as it hardened into a soft golden green healing salve. They each added a label to their jars and took them home. The labels have been graciously printed by Rian & Finn's parents, Anya and Joe. We are grateful for their continued support in our 'Orchard Apothecary' venture.