Canna-Lion Salve Tutorial
This is an awesome recipe to create your own topical with simple ingredients that will help soothe sore muscles and calm irritated skin.
There is this strange obsession with removing these "weeds" from our lawn but dandelions are pretty amazing. They help feed the bees, and they actually have ton of healing properties. We can cultivate them and use them in all sorts of homemade products.
Why Are Dandelions So Awesome?
For starters dandelions are SUPER nutritious and are loaded with vitamins, minerals and fibre. They're an excellent source of vitamins A, C, K ,E, and small amounts of B vitamins.
Dandelion greens are full of iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium. Even the root has plenty of use because it is rich in inulin which is a soluble fibre found in plants that supports the bacterial flora in your digestive tract.
These little weeds also contain the antioxidant beta-carotene which is known to provide protection against cellular damage that helps to keep you young and vibrant and help fight disease.
There have even been studies done that suggest their anti-inflammatory capacity. A study done on mice with artificially induced inflammatory lung disease showed a significant reduction of lung inflammation in the group that received dandelion as treatment.
There are many more benefits but there have even tests that have shown promising things when it comes to dandelions and cancer. There are claims that they help to prevent the growth of cancerous cells in many different organ systems. One study showed that the leaf extract could reduce the growth of cancerous cells although the flower or root did not lead to the same result.
More research is definitely needed here but there is nothing pesky about these weeds, they are actually very good for you and we should be using them in our homes.
I thought that they would make a beautiful salve that I could combine with the magic of cannabis to create a really powerful topical.
STEP ONE
This might be the hardest part of all because its ideal to use dandelions as early as possible in the spring. What I did was gather a ton of dandelions, cut just the flower tips off, let them dry, and then put them into a glass jar completely covered in olive oil for about a month. I would shake the jar throughout the month just to keep things moving in there as the healing compounds of the dandelions transferred into the oil.
After your oil and dandelions have had a chance to ferment for 4 weeks you can now start using it to make different homeopathic concoctions.
SALVE RECIPE
- 1 cup of dandelion oil
- 4 tbs of beeswax pellets *For the beeswax I ended up getting a little slab and just winged the amount. Salve turned out a little tough but still usable and works amazing. Following this recipe should give you better results
- Any essential oil of your choice
- 30 mL of cannabis oil of your choice
INSTRUCTIONS
- simmer and stir the beeswax in a double boiler until melted and let sit for just a couple minutes
- at this point you can add any essential oils you would like
- stir in your cannabis tincture
- pour your mixture in desired container/s and let solidify
It can be a long process while waiting for your dandelions so soak but once you have your oil it is really quick and simple to whip up a batch of canna-lion salve! I've been using it on my sore back/hip and it does the body good! You can choose to add the cannabis tincture or not, and you can really play with this recipe until you create a mixture that you love. I can't wait to make some more and experiment with essential oils and different ingredients.
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have the chance to take advantage of some lovely dandelions.
Let me know if you've used dandelions before! Would love to hear what else they can be used for.