The following blog is for information only and is no substitute for medical advice or your own research. Please be mindful of your needs and seek appropriate professional support as necessary.

I use home grown calendula for all my calendula based products.

One of my vegetable beds at home is full of calendula plants. When they come into flower the sight is so bright and cheerful that I always feel guilty picking them! But in order to get more flowers they have to be picked. I do this early in the morning when they are at their plumpest.

Once picked I leave them in the sunshine for a while for any little bugs to escape, then I give them a good shake and place them in a low oven for an hour on a low heat to dry and concentrate their skin loving properties.

Once they are dry I put them into organic olive oil or sunflower oil, warm them gently and then leave them to infuse for a minimum of 6 weeks so the oils have plenty of time to extract the calendula flower properties. The oils gradually take on a deep golden colour as they extract all the goodness from the dried calendula flowers.

It’s a truly fascinating process.

If you’ve purchased a tin of my incredible skin saving balm you would have experienced the skin soothing properties of the home grown calendula.

Skin saving balm also contains an infusion of home grown lavender. Here’s the link to a separate blog about lavender).

I also use calendula infused oil in my Calendula and Orange Lip Balm and Pure Calendula Soap. So there’s lots of uses for my home grown calendula. I guess I’ll need to plant even more of them this year!

The history of Calendula

The name Calendula refers to its tendency to bloom with the calendar, usually once a month or with every new moon.

As recently as 70 years ago American physicians used calendula to treat conjunctivitis, fevers, cuts, scrapes, bruises, and burns, as well as minor infections of the skin.

Calendula creams and washes are still used to disinfect minor wounds and to treat infections of the skin. The antibacterial properties of the plant make it extremely useful in treating slow-healing cuts and is particularly useful for treating cuts in people who have compromised immune systems.

To see all my products that contain calendula just click this link.

Have you tried any of my calendula products?

Which is your favourite? I’d love to know!

Feel free to hit reply and tell me.

Lots of love
Sue xxx