Daisy
The name 'daisy' is a merging of the words 'day' 'eye'
for the flower only opens during the day and closes at night
and there is an old saying that when you can step on 9 daisies
at once on the village green, then spring has arrived!
The flowers have a delightful and gentle perfume
that make a delicious addition to salads.
The leaves can be eaten as well - they are more bitter
but that just means that they also improve digestion.
Daisy is also known as the poor man's arnica
as it is so common it can be freely obtained,
and like arnica, is excellent for first aid treatment of
burns, bruises, falls and shock.
To make a daisy infused oil for the first aid treatment of bruises and burns,
first make an infused oil with the flowers.
Take an empty clean jam jar and fill it with daisies (minus their stalks)
making sure you collect the daisies on a dry day before 3pm
or else their flowerheads will be closed.
Once you have done this, cover the flowers completely in sunflower oil,
put the lid on and stand in a pot
with water that comes halfway up the side of the jar.
Bring the water to a boil and then simmer gently for 2-3 hours.
Strain the oil through a sieve
and then return the oil to a clean pot
and add some beeswax granules in the proportion of
1/10 beeswax to the amount of oil you have.
So, for example, if you have 100ml of infused oil,
add 10g of beeswax.
You could also use shea butter or cocoa butter, instead of beeswax,
as they're solid at room temperature.
You can play around with the quantities but with an ointment,
you are looking for a product that is solid at room temperature
yet easily spreadable with a finger
in other words, the margarine of skin products!
Once the beeswax has melted in the oil,
pour the mixture directly into clean storage jars
(if you leave it too long, your mixture will solidify in the pot or jug
and you will have to reheat the mixture to make it liquid again).
Put a lid on your jars and label your daisy ointment clearly with the date.
This daisy ointment is a simple and useful addition
to your herbal first aid cabinet.