ALL THINGS TOPICAL

That's pretty interesting about the figs. I've only had dried figs that I bought, never have seen a fig tree around here. Our son ate tons of them when he lived in India and seemed a little disappointed when I told him fig trees must not survive our climate.

I haven't done anything with figs.

Almost bought a hardy fig sapling this spring, but I'd have to have kept it in a pot or built a raised bed. Our water table gets too high in winter.

I bought a Brown Turkey Fig sapling this spring. The sapling is about 3' tall, and just broke bud a couple weeks ago. Nice looking growth and leaves. I have it in a large pot with the intent of bringing it in before frost, and keeping it in my basement under a grow light for the winter. I would be interested in hearing if any one has success with figs in northern climates. Should I try to make it go dormant this winter, or should I try to keep it growing through the winter? What's this you say about drying the leaves? For what purpose? I'm of the understanding that figs are very easy to propagate from stem cuttings.

Lazy Gardener said:

What's this you say about drying the leaves? For what purpose?

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LG, this is a long article but is full of good information. Further down past the information on figs and dried figs, there is information on the fig leaves:

https://draxe.com/figs-nutrition/

I LOVE FIGS. Waiting for trees to ripen, loaded! At ,u friends house...but, mine. They don't like them. I dry a lot but, some of those recipes in the site you listed look really good! Fig newtons! Figs & goat cheese!

Have any members made calendula salve?

Comfrey salve?

What has been your experience with how well these products do to heal skin irritations?

Do you prefer doing cold infusion or using heat?

I haven't actually made a salve with them but do use them in my lotion.

I use heat for water extraction, but just do oil cold over time.

Together with the cod liver oil it's helped me a lot with my eczema issues. Soothes it down to soft skin over a few days.

Hinotori said:

Together with the cod liver oil it's helped me a lot with my eczema issues. Soothes it down to soft skin over a few days

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Could/would you expand on this? My son has some horrid spots and I have comfrey (bocking 4) as well as castor oil. Would love to make a useful lotion or salve for him to try.

I don't know what type of comfrey I have. It was very well established when we moved here.

I use a very strong water infusion of comfrey and calendula. I also oil infuse both dried herbs for a week in almond oil.

When I'd been asking before on here about skin herbs, Beekissed suggested the castor oil. It is good for general skin.

I think just an ointment would be good with them. It would stick well.

It does not cure the eczema, but makes it much more comfortable.

Mom has a bad spot on her elbow that it's helped with. It's worked on the spots I get on and behind my ears.

My niece has either eczema or dermatitis on the back of her leg. We didn't try the herb mixture, but just using an almond oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter, and beeswax mixture helped her tremendously. None of the prescription stuff she'd been given had done anything to help. The mixture helped keep the skin moisturized enough that after about a month it went away.

I have used the leaves in oil infusion. Plus, I keep tea tree oil on hand and it does help with some skin "stuff" but, I do know the oils help with the softening if that type of issue is present. Since I also make goat soap, most all of those oils are here at the house Of course, being an adult male DS isn't one to "use as recommended" You would think if it helped he would...BUT

I'm slowly cultivating more comfrey to use for the animals as part of their feed. They obviously love it because I have to fence it off to keep the starts growing! Good thing this is a plant that loves to grow!!! I would like to have about a 1/2 acre of it. High protein and huge vit/min accumulators. (just ordered more root stock last night) Chickens and goats fight for it. Plus great for fertilizer & compost activator. I want to get some wormwood, in near future...just for a couple large pots/tubs. I hear it's invasive.

Some plants I use little and it's easier to buy small amounts dried. Elderberries are my push this year -- wild here & I've found a large supply, so pick, freeze, juice when more time for that & syrup. I'm obsessed with this now. It's odd as I haven't had a cold or flu in 20+ yrs but...others have so I have subjects to give it to. Well, salves last a long time & help when you need them. Most weeks we end up with a scratch or ten to be handled, so I try to have something on standby.