Jen Pickle Jones is one of our Central Coast Edible Garden Hosts. She is a very active member of Permaculture Central Coast and an avid blogger who grows abundantly and makes wonderful things from her harvest. Natural potions, wines and liqueurs and lots of delicious food.
Here Jen shares a recipe for a Natural Bug Repellant – from her garden.
There’s lots of different combinations of plants you can use for this purpose, using the same base recipe, but the following are my favourites.
You will need….
- 200g of pure coconut oil
- 60g of fresh herbs (Fresh wormwood leaves, fresh Citronella geranium leaves)
- 20-30g of natural beeswax, grated
- Chosen essential oils (15 drops of Tea Tree & 15 drops of Eucalyptus)
- 3-4 tbsp. pure Shea Butter
- Something like cheesecloth to use for straining the mix
- Heat proof bowl
- Medium sized stainless steel pot
- Wooden spoon
- Glass jars for storage
Melt the coconut oil in your pot and add the roughly chopped herbs. Simmer on a very low heat for 10 mins. Strain the mixture while still hot, through the cheesecloth into a heat proof bowl and add the essential oils, butter and beeswax. Stir gently until wax has completely dissolved, then pour into your jars to set.
If you want a creamier salve, whip the mixture with a whisk as it cools in the bowl before spooning into jars. If the oil cools before the wax has melted completely, you may need to pop the bowl over some simmering water to gently reheat it..
Note: add less beeswax if you want a more liquid finished product or more if you require a more solid salve. Most will get very soft in our warm weather and solidify when it cools down anyway.
Visit Pickle’s Patch for more great ideas and recipes.
