February 2008 Contents:

1.) Evening Wildlife Presentation with Susan Morse
Experience Susan's astounding wildlife photography and unique insights into the field of wildlife tracking...

2.) Tracking Expedition in South Africa! Summer 2008
An very unique opportunity to study wildlife tracking in Africa with expert South African trackers...

3.) Feature Article: Making Cottonwood Salve, Part 2
Finish creating your own healing medicinal skin salve for scrapes, cuts, burns, and bruises...

4.) WA State Clock Hours Now Available!
WA State clock hours for many Alderleaf courses are now available through The Heritage Institute...

In last month's issue we discussed some of cottonwood's medicinal uses, how and when to collect, and infusing the medicinal parts, the buds, into an oil. In this issue we will discuss turning the cottonwood oil into a medicinal salve. If you missed last month's article or would like a refresher, you can click here to read Part 1 of Making Cottonwood Salve. February is still a great time to collect cottonwood buds for medicine in the Puget Sound region!

Now that you have created cottonwood oil, you can use the following recipe to create your very own medicinal salve. The advantages of a salve is that the medicine is turned into an ointment consistency that better adheres to skin and can be carried easily for first aid uses in the field.


Cottonwood Salve Recipe

1 cup of cottonwood oil
1/4 cup of shaved beeswax

First, choose a pot or pan that you don't mind dedicating to salve-making, as the medicine will be very difficult to completely remove. Heat up your cottonwood oil on the stove on low heat. You can even use a double-boiler to further protect the oil from getting too hot, though it is not necessary. Once the oil has warmed up, slowly add the thin shavings of beeswax into the pot, waiting for shavings to melt before adding more.

You can test the consistency of your medicine by removing a teaspoon of the heated oil/beeswax mix, and allowing it to fully cool. Your goal is to create an ointment consistency. Too little beeswax and the mixture remains as a thick oil, while too much beeswax turns the mix into a hard consistency similar to lip balm. You can adjust by adding more oil or beeswax to gain the desired consistency.

Once you have melted your beeswax into the mix and achieved the desired consistency upon testing, you can allow the mix to begin to cool. Just before your salve begins to firm up, you can pour the warm salve into small containers such as baby food jars or small tins. Your salve will then cool down into place. The small containers of cottonwood salve make great gifts and additions to first aid kits.

You can now use the salve to sooth sore muscles, treat minor burns and scrapes, and soften rough hands. Enjoy!

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