A Home Grown First-Aid Kit!
(Page 2 of 3)
May/June 1979
By the Mother Earth News editors
Then—after I'd shared my arthritis experience with the scientist—he told me his own aloe story. A few months earlier, his five-year-old grandson had grabbed the hot exhaust pipe of an idling lawn mower. The biochemist grandfather immediately took the boy into the kitchen and soaked the child's raw hand in a bowl of icecold aloe juice. Although the palm had been badly burned, the injured flesh healed in a short time ... and with no scarring or loss of dexterity!
RELATED CONTENT
Buying or building a small home is a great way to significantly reduce your energy use, and you don...
There are thousands upon thousands of abandoned farmhouses scattered throughout the U.S., at bargai...
I'm renting an old Finnish homestead near Nolalu, Ontario....
A community canning center is the answer....
Dr. Duke talks about herbal remedies for rheumatoid and osteoarthritis and shares recipes such as a...
As you can imagine, the information—and testimony—provided by my expert informant pretty much cleared up any nagging doubts I might have had about the value of this homegrown medicine. In fact, I was so enthusiastic that I bought some more Aloe vera. (I was caref u I to purchase the real thing, however ... the "American aloe", or century plant, is actualIy a member of the genus Agave and has little in common with "true" aloe.)
Since then I've always kept several of these versatile healers growing in my home. And I need them all, because—while I still use the gel and extracted juice for arthritis and beauty treatments—the restorative balm has proven effective in stopping bleeding and inflammation in cuts ... and relieves the itching of mosquito bites, too!
Fortunately, you won't require a green thumb and a library of gardening books to raise your own "windowsill wonders". Aloe vera is an exceptionally attractive—and easy-to-grow—houseplant The native of Africa likes mild to warm temperatures, semishade, and good drainage. It even thrives outdoors during summer weather (or all year round in clement climes) ... so long as the leaves don't get too much sun. And aloe truly needs very little care. (Don't let the plants slow growth habits tempt you to "encourage" it ?long, though ... overwatering and overfertilizing will quickly kill it.)
The healing gel and juice are as easy to extract as the plant itself is to maintain. To get some vera "jelly", simply snip off part of a leaf (don't worry about the stub ... aloe heals itself!), pare away the rind, and dig out the clear, tasteless salve in the stem's heart. Then, if you want to make ''aloe-aid", soak some diced gel in water (or liquefy the gummy poultice in a blender) and—to keep your "medicine'' freshstore any unused leaf, gel, or juice in the refrigerator.
