Back in summertime…

Calendula officinalis, Pot Marigold (English Marigold) or simply Marigold is a plant that has been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. Besides that, this plant works great as a dye, used in cuisine (as a substitute for saffron) as well as a dye for fabrics and cosmetics. But its primary reputation is the medicinal one and it would be quite difficult to find a better skin healer: calendula is the right plant for healing wounds, ulcers, severe burns, bruises and other local skin problems.
This potent antiseptic can be made into a cream and applied on skin, or drunk as an infusion, using dried flower petals.

Some flowers get orange…

… while others get yellow

Calendula is one of the safest herbs to use, so most people don’t have problems dealing with it. Caution should be applied only in case that a person suffers an allergic reaction to pollen of any plant belonging to the daisy family of plants, although the occasions of individuals developing these reactions are quite rare.

Marigold should be picked in the morning, just after the flowers have opened.

I’ve known this flower for years, it has always been growing in our garden but I’ve never been aware of its characteristics till now. After reading a few herbal oriented books, my interest for this beautiful yellow flower increased, so that this spring I bought a pack of seeds and planted them in the garden, along the edge of the garden bed – namely, calendula is known also for being a good “neighbour” to the growing vegetables because it protects them from pests (not to mention that it attracts bees and other useful insects!).

Here we go… start by chopping the plant coarsely.

My intention was to make a cream from scratch – without any of those artificial ingredients like petrolatum, paraffinum liquidum, lanolin or hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde, commonly found in creams of this sort. Being prone to dry skin problems, especially dry hands during winter time, I’ve always been a huge consumer of hand creams and often my choice of cream would be among the ones with calendula extract. However, I was curious to know if I could make a cream myself at home and with the hundreds of flowers that my plants produced over the summer, I really had to try it out!

Now let’s prepare the pan and melt the butter…

Every week I would pick a basket of petals and temporarily, my kitchen would become similar to a little lab. There were flowers everywhere – because I also decided to dry them for the infusion – and the aroma of butter-fried flowers filled our kitchen on weekly basis -to Juanpi’s dismay-.

… and let’s do some frying! It will only take a moment or two.

You’ll need some muscle power here. Try to squeeze out as much liquid as you can…

Why butter?
Well, the recipe* I found called for either pork fat or butter, I opted for the latter because I kind of preferred its smell. The instructions were, however, simple:

“Heat 500g of butter in a pan, take 2 handfuls of freshly picked and chopped marigold (petals, stems, leaves) and fry them swiftly, stir and remove from the stove. Let sit in a covered pan overnight or better, for 24hrs. Stir occasionally. Then, slightly heat up the mixture and using a fine cotton/linen cloth, filter the mixture into a prepared clean pot.”

* This recipe originates from the book of Maria Treben, Austrian herbalist.

Precious, golden elixir

After a few hours the cream solidifies, but in any case I suggest keeping it in the fridge. We don’t put any preservatives in there, remember?

The cream keeps well for quite a while. I’m not sure for how long because I’ve never managed to find this information. I’m now using the pot, prepared in mid-August and it smells and looks same as the first day. The cream makes my skin absolutely smooth and relieved. I think I’ve found my perfect cream!

The petals I didn’t use for cream making, were put to dry. Marigold makes a great blood purifying infusion. It tastes nice, too, not at all bitter like some other plants do.

Ready to dry

The petals lose much of their volume during the drying process

Since it’s an annual plant, I’m looking forward to plant its seeds again next spring. I can’t wait! It was so nice to observe it growing and blossoming, it’s an incredible plant. The garden has never been that vibrant – thanks to marigold.