Calendula: The Skin Herb With An Abundance Benefits

Most people know calendula as a soothing herb for the skin, but its story goes far beyond salves and creams. This bright, golden flower has been used to support the lymphatic system, promote gut healing, offer antiviral support for shingles and chicken pox, and ease tired, overworked eyes.  

We also shared some of Calendula's history, from ancient physicians to traditional herbalists who revered it as one of nature's great healers. 

What's in this episode: 

• Why calendula is so much more than a skin herb: gut healing, lymphatic support, and antiviral action 
• How calendula supports the lymphatic system and why that’s helpful for breast tissue and post-mastectomy care 
• The foot funk fix: calendula as an antifungal for athlete's foot 
• Calendula versus marigold: How to know which one to use 
• Dioscorides, Culpeper, and the history of calendula across the centuries 
• The Lloyd Extractor and how the Eclectic physicians preserved calendula's potency without heat 
• Why calendula is best when fresh, and how freeze-drying keeps that fre3shness intact 
• Calendula in the garden: how to grow it, harvest it, and keep it blooming all season 
• Favorite recipes: calendula ice cubes, foot baths, gut-healing applesauce, and more 

For full show notes and transcript: https://eclecticherb.com/blogs/news/calendula-skin-herb 

Get fresh freeze-dried Calendula here: https://eclecticherb.com/products/calendula 

Or give your tired eyes some love with our Eye Food here: https://eclecticherb.com/products/eye-food 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So rarely talked about is for lymphatic support and immune support. It can be really specific for healing viral infections. And I think particularly for things like shingles or chickenpox or herpes. And this can be really nice internally as it fights off the virus itself. And also externally, when we have those kinds of viral infections, we've got skin eruptions happening, right? And we might want to turn to an herb that can help with those skin eruptions as well. It's kind of working double time, right? Like, what a frandula. You know, I really love when an herb can show up and address so many of the different issues that a person might be dealing with. And that's the beauty of herbal medicine altogether, I feel, is when you find those herbs that do the many things you need in that one moment. Hello and welcome to Eclectic Herbal Wisdom, where we share stories from the roots of plant medicine. I'm Mel Muttersthawk, clinical herbalist and herbal educator at Eclectic Herb. And I'm Chris Olstett, herbalist and owner of Eclectic Herb. We are so glad that you're here. Whether you're brewing up your first cup of metal tea or crafting your own complex herbal remedies, this podcast is for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

In each episode, we'll open the pages of herbal lore from the archives of the incredible eclectic library to the living wisdom of today's best herbalists. Together, we'll explore how plants have supported people for centuries and how they continue to do so now.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

You'll find stories, science, and soulful conversations with other brilliant herbalists, all sharing real-world insights that you can bring into your daily life and your practice.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Because herbal wisdom is timeless and it's meant to be shared.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

So come grow with us as we rediscover the living legacy of the plants. Hello and welcome back to another episode here on Eclectic Herbal Wisdom. And I am so thrilled to be talking about the herb we are talking about in today's episode. And it is the beautiful calendula, my friendula, one of my all-time favorite herbs. And yes, I sing a little song to her when I go out and gather calangula and it goes, calangula, you are my friendula. And then the verses change from there. Like I'll sing some kind of sweet tribute that I'm feeling in the moment with it. So if ever you want to think of calendula as your friendula, you are welcome to use that too. But it is such a beautiful herb. And I think a lot of people know about this herb as the skin herb because it's phenomenal for a whole host of skin issues. But what it's not talked about a lot is the fact that it's also a wonderful lymphatic herb. It is amazing for easing inflammation. It can be incredibly powerful for people on a gut healing journey and so much more. And that's why I'm excited to share today's episode with you so that we can really dive into some of the historical uses of calendula that kind of coincide with the ways that we use herbs today, calendula specifically.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

I'm so glad you sang. I was hoping you'd break into song.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

And you did. So that's true. For a little bit. I didn't bust it all out. I wasn't, I should have sat with my calendula right before recording, so I would have had some fresh new verses. But next time.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Yeah, this is a this is a wonderful herb. It's in my top 10. I think if you're looking for a beginner herb that's easy to use, calendula, top 10, definitely. It's super easy to grow, easy for a beginner. You can make lots of medicine out of it, great for kids, very pretty. And the more you harvest it, the more flowers it gives. So it's very generous with its medicine.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Yeah, I love that. Absolutely this abundant, generous flower. One might be like, oh, I don't want to take that flower because it's so pretty. But if you do, calundula is just like, hey, Frangela, I'm here to give you more. What more could we ask for? And it is so sunny, so vibrant, so incredibly beautiful. And definitely was one of my first herbs in the beginning of my herb journey. And like I mentioned, I used it for skincare. Most people do step into herbalism and they think about colendula for skincare. But again, it is so much more than that. So one of the ways I've used it quite a lot and seen incredible success with is for people that are working to do a lot of healing to their gut. Maybe it's somebody with leaky gut or things along those lines, because the ways in which calendula does such a wonderful job in healing the skin, one of the things that it does is promote skin cell regeneration. It does that with other mucosal cells as well, like our gut wall. Because when we have leaky gut, it's basically little tiny perforations throughout the gut wall where things are getting through and causing so much inflammation and trouble for people. Now, I will say calendula isn't something that you can just be like, oh, cool, I've got leaky gut. I'm gonna take calendula and everything's going to be great. Because herbs just don't really work that way. We want to incorporate the right lifestyle situations. And that can really mean you're doing some good work to find out what is causing inflammation and the problems within your body in the first place. There's likely quite a few dietary changes you may go through. They can be different for each and every person. Definitely want to support the nervous system in that healing process as well. So just really do consider that. It's not an instant fix pill like so many people really want in our world. So that's one way I love to use it. Another way that it's absolutely fantastic and so rarely talked about is for lymphatic support and immune support. It is a gentle antimicrobial herb. It does some immune-stimulating work as well. It can be really specific for healing viral infections. And I think particularly for things like shingles or chicken pox or herpes. And this can be really nice internally as it fights off the virus itself. And also externally, when we have those kinds of viral infections, we've got skin eruptions happening, right? And we might want to turn to an herb that can help with those skin eruptions as well. And that's where calendula really can be incredibly lovely in those particular situations. It's kind of working double time, right? Like, what a frenula. You know, I really love when an herb can show up and address so many of the different issues that a person might be dealing with. And that's the beauty of herbal medicine altogether, I feel, is when you find those herbs that do the many things you need in that one moment. The other way that it's really helpful, both with like immune function, but also as I was mentioning, it's a great lymphatic herb. So that means it's gonna help get the lymph flowing and moving throughout the body because our lymphatic system doesn't have a pump to move things through like our heart does, right? Sometimes we need herbs that can give a little bit of support there. And this is gonna be really helpful too, because that's how we're gonna push out some of the old pathogenic cells that caused infection or illness in the first place. So that can be really nice. It also helps get rid of like the dead immune cells and get all of the ick out of the body. And this is what I really think of very specifically when it comes to breast tissue. You can use that internally for the lymphatic drainage and also topically giving massages to the breasts and really paying attention to where the lymph nodes are and making sure that you're getting things moving there as well. I know that this has been a really, really helpful thing to use, particularly when people are post-mastectomy and there's a lot of lymphatic edema or swelling happening. So that is another lovely, lovely way. And a way that we use all too often in my house is as an antifungal. So I say it in such a jokingly way, because my partner is he's a ski bum, and in the winter, he's like in ski boots all of the time, and he works up at a ski resort. And so, like, his feet are not getting enough air in circulation, and he'll get the funk, the foot funk, athlete's foot. And calendula is such a great antifungal herb. So, what we'll do is just take a little bit of apple cider vinegar and maybe a garlic clove with it as well, and then we make a very strong calendula tea to dilute all of that heat, and then we'll have him do a foot bath, and it usually helps in really, really beautiful ways. So those are just some of the ways that I love to use calendula beyond the more common things these days for skincare. So I love, love, love calendula.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

And I love that you brought up that it's so much more than a skin herb because I think that's where people tend to stop with it. I also, when I first started working with it, thought this is just for topical salves, making oil, wounds, dry skin, stuff like that, but it does so much more. And I think herbalists, when they think about it, they think about its affinity for mucous membranes and the gut lining and the lymphatic system, breast tissue, or anywhere where the body needs resolving irritation or stagnation. So internal use of calendula is one of the great ways to use it that more people should be aware of for sure. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. And this is one that's been historically used for a very long time. In fact, when you go back on the literature, they've always said that calendula is the great healer. I think if you had to describe it in a single sentence, calendula, the great healer, inside and out, and the wound healer. But they also used to use it um as a ceremonial herb. It's also sometimes called marigold. There's a bit of confusion around that, but they used to say for the Virgin Mary, they'd leave it as offerings. And then there's a common garden marigold, which is quite different to calendula, and that's a completely different species that grows in Mexico. But the original calendula officianalis, if you look at the botanical name, the word officinalis can tell us something about it. And that means it was officially an apothecary herb and recognized for its medicinal uses quite early. That word officinalis was when Carl Inaeus went in and categorized the tops with their Latin names. He gave this one an official name of Calangula officianalis.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Yeah. I love noting that and sharing that with people when they see that in the Latin name. That's your good medicine, right? That's your official herb that is medicine of the people. Love that.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Yeah. And I think there's the two. So when you go back to the garden, the official is the one that's quite flat, single color, as opposed to the frilly marigols, which are completely different. And as far as I know, they don't have any medicinal use. They're from Mexico. And I think they're called tajites.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Yeah, Tejit. I always said tejitis, but you know, you're probably right. Sometimes I go with tomato patato with Latin names when I'm saying them. I've heard them all in so many different ways. But yeah, very different plant. And I don't know any medicinal uses of it either, other than it is really a lovely plant and is really great to have in the garden. But for me, I would plant calendula fictionalis over Teddy any old day. I think yeah. I do love the ceremonies down in Mexico. Like it's definitely really common around honoring the dead to use that marigold. So that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Yeah. I think if we back up and kind of look at the history of it, I've got an old vintage one here, which is from about the early 19th century. You see the bottle. It's pretty cool. This is a Lloyd Brothers one, an extract that they made. But one of the first references was from the there was a Greek physician called Dioscorides, and he was actually in the Roman army, and he used to use calendulate quite a lot. And he said that it was an astringent and he used to use it for wounds, which is pretty interesting. He was around in the first century, and how he was using it back then is the same way that we use it now. And he said that it was associated with tissue healing, soothing irritation, and helping the body resolve injury. So I just love that we've been using this for so long. There's records of it, and we're still using it today. And time and time again it's proven itself to be effective in that way. And then it moved through European history, and it was actually very common. They used to use it in everyday life. So they grew it in their gardens, it was grown in epochary gardens, monasteries for healing, and they used to make dye out of it. They also used to use it for food. So some people used it to make butter and cheese yellower. So it's used as a food coloring. And then things like throwing it in salads and broth stews, things like that.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, the food coloring piece. I know it was called poor man's saffron quite a lot. Like at least this is generous and a giving and really abundant. We all know saffron's really challenging to grow. I think one of the other things that just to back up to the naming piece that you were talking about with the officialis, I like to mention that the name calendula is actually derived from the Latin word calende, which means like a little calendar or the little clock. And it's really talking about that rhythmic way that the flowers continue to bloom throughout the months, which I think is absolutely lovely to think about. In in Italian, it's known as flower of each month. So giving, so lovely, so beautiful. I love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

I noticed with my calendar plants, what's really pretty about them, like a clock, they open and close with the day. So they're open in the morning for the sun and then they close at night. But if the sun's not going to come out, they used to use them a little bit for telling what the weather was going to be in weather prediction because they stay closed in the clouds. So I can tell a little bit. Oh god, is it gonna be sunny today? Is the sun gonna come out? If my calendula are closed, maybe not.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

I feel like we can learn a lot from this lovely flower. So much. Yeah, I love that. That is so cool. Yeah, so let's dive more into the history, Chris. You always have such a wealth of knowledge and information that we can dive back into. And I think it's so exciting. I'd love to hear. Do you do you know anything about call pepper and some of the ways he would use it?

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Yes. So call pepper, he called it marigold, actually. And he said that it was so plentiful in every garden and so well known that it didn't even need a description. So back in the time of call pepper, which was the 18th century, people were just growing it everywhere. And then he was an astrologer, so he was a herbalist, herbal rebel, author, and he placed it um under the sun. So it was ruled by the sun and in the sign of Leo. And in old medical astrology, the way that he used to practice that connected it to the heart and warmth and vitality. And he said, think uplifting and cheerful. So interestingly enough, he didn't say so much about the wound healing properties of it. He did say that you could mix the marigold leaves with vinegar and apply that as a compress to reduce swelling. And he also talked about using it in a posset. So have you heard of a posset? I have not. Tell me about posset. Archaic English. So a posset is a medicinal drink, and they used to make it with milk, then warm up milk, and then they'd mix it with some kind of alcohol. So usually wine or ale, and it would curdle it slightly, and then they'd throw sweetener and spice and stuff in it. So they used to use marigold and a posset for like a wellness drink to get healthy.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Wow. That's kind of fascinating to me because I think about anything curled, and I'm like, no.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

I'm curious about that because it's a great word, a posset. Here, I'll make you a healing posset, and then it'll milk with a bit of wine in it. But I'm a little bit curious. The only reference I could find when he talks about the skin is he used to make a little plaster and he used to use powdered flowers for that mixed with hogs grease and a bit of resin for wounds. And I'm assuming the resin, the flowers are actually quite resinous. So I think he probably refers to the resin from within the flour getting in there with that hog's grease. I don't know today if we would be putting hogs grease on our skin, but uh he did talk about that for plasters, as he said.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Wow. I I mean I think about all the people using beef tallow these days, so it's not all that different, but I I don't really use hogs grease or beef tallow on my skin. So there we have that. But I love also when you talked about him placing it under the sun, like you look at that flower and she's sunshine, right? She's glorious, she's uplifting just by how beautiful she is, but also being under the sign of Leo. And we think of Leo as the lion, and you can think of looking at a calendula flower as that big, beautiful golden lion's mane. I think that is a really lovely visual for me, hopefully for anybody listening as well. And then I think about, you know, when he was using it for swelling and infusing it in vinegars and things along those lines. I wonder if he was like specifically using it for lymphatic swelling, right? That would be interesting to dive into and to know at some point in time. I think that's so cool to think about the ways that these herbs were used so long ago in such similar ways that we do today, like the playsters, right? I think beautiful, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:12

I love that old English. And I think in reference to the sun and Leo, so the sign of Leo is ruled by the sun, but sometimes looking at that, you can always tell what the herb's gonna do. So it'll be warming and drying. So kind of like an astringent for wounds. So it does give us a little bit of a clue there when he says ruled by the sun.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

I love that. That is so cool. So I'd love to hear, if you don't mind, I'd love to hear some of the ways that the eclectics use this beautiful frangula of ours.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

So the eclectics, they say quite clearly that it's best when it's used fresh and it loses its potency over time. And I find that myself. If you pick the plant, it's quite resinous and you can either make a tincture with it quickly, or as we do, you can freeze dry it. And there's a few tips to freeze drying it, which I'll get into a bit later. And if you leave it to dry, it dries up, it loses its colour, and then it starts to look quite pale. So you get this beautiful, vibrant, almost orange flower. You leave it out and it starts to lose its colour and its potency pretty quickly. So they're best used fresh. You can stick them in the freezer for a little bit to maintain that potency. But they used to take the fresh flowers and they would make an alcoholic extract out of it, especially like this. And they said that clearly the resins in the plant are the active part.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Can you put that bottle up to the camera a little bit more? For anybody not listening, you should go check out this video on YouTube when it is ready for you. But she's Chris is holding up an old eclectic bottle of calendula as an alcohol extract or a tincture. This is a lily pharmaceutical one. Is that no?

SPEAKER_00 19:48

This is Lloyd Brothers pharmaceutical.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Great. Yeah, so cool. I love that, which makes me want to have you talk about the Lloyd Brothers and the ways that they did their extractions. Will you just share a little bit of that right now?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

So these they used to make just with alcohol. They had two different methods. Some of them they wanted to preserve the potency of the plants and they wanted to do these without heat. They were trying to find out a method to make them more concentrated, also to remove the alcohol, but not apply heat to the plant. And we're going back to Victorian times here. So one of the brothers, the Lloyd brothers, John Uri Lloyd, came out with a device called the Lloyd Extractor. And you put the herbs into this percolator-looking thing, and then you apply heat around the outside, so it swirls the herbs around inside that vessel so that the heat is not actually touching the herbs and they don't heat up. It's like a cold still, and then it preserves the potency of the herbs, concentrates them, and makes them stronger, and also doesn't affect them. It doesn't heat affect them or cause them to lose any of their activity. So that's how they used to make their remedies. We have a couple of the Lloyd extractors at work. Super fascinating. We use them to make our non-alcoholic tinctures. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

That's why they work so well.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Yeah. I mean, they used to like doing specific. So specific medicines, they would say this herb is specific to this condition. So if you see these symptoms, not like a diagnosis as in a disease name, this specific group of symptoms can be treated by this specific herb. So it actually says on the bottle, this is the specific medicine of calendular flowers and 66% alcohol. All dried up now. And it says specific use in enfeebled conditions of capillary blood vessels, also as an application to ulcers and wounds diluted with four times its bulk of water. So they started using it as a wound remedy, and it it's pretty specific to a topical use there.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Wow. That is so cool.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

Yeah, on the side of the bottle, it actually has something really interesting written. So my eyes are not the best. To do some more with a calendula to improve my eyesight, but it says per the Lloyd Brothers the chief use of a calendula is as a local remedy. And to enhance its local effect, it may also be given internally. When locally applied, specific medicine calendula quickly relieves black eyes and bruises, old ulcers, sloughing sores, abscesses, burns, and scalds are some of the conditions permanently relieved. As a dressing to the endometrium to relieve uterine catar and as a wash to arrest offensive nasal discharges, it proves an efficient remedy. If added to a solution of boric acid, a splendid dressing for old sloughing sores is obtained. Frequently, a non-alcoholic preparation of calendula is to be preferred as a local agent. Though in aggravated cases and where there is much capillary or capillary, as they say in the states, engorgement, the specific medicine calendula gives best results.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Wow, that is really, really cool to learn about. And I love that they do talk about the capillaries and its ability to strengthen and support those as well. And talking about the uterus, because this is definitely an herb that is fantastically supportive for women dealing with their menstrual cycle and any kind of pain that they may be dealing with during that time or the swelling of the breasts again, right? So we're working multiple patterns in the body with one herb again. I love that. That is so cool that that's what they were writing on the back of the remedy bottles that people use not so long ago.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Absolutely. I think this bottle was probably about 1900, I would guess. Yeah. It doesn't actually say a day, but yeah. Beautiful. Awesome. They also said that if you take it internally, it was a diaphoretic, which means it causes you to sweat. So anything like with a fever where you've got a high temperature, it would like sweat out that fever to help you get better. So similar they say this, I don't use saffron very much, but they say it's similar to saffron but less stimulating. And they also mentioned, as you said earlier, that in other traditions it used to be called poor man's saffron, that is in King's Medical Dispensatory. And they used to like to use it as infusions and extracts, and they thought of it primarily as a local remedy. They also said it was great for kids, so diluted they can use it for infant skin conditions like nappy rat or diaper rat, as you say here, chafing and weepy wounds. And they said it was really good if you had a stale wound that wasn't healing, then you can use this and it will cause it to heal, like an ulcer that's just not getting better, or something that's just been there for a long time and nothing seems to shift it. Try topical calendar on that. And then also vaginitis or any kind of vaginal abrasions or rawness, like if you've had a baby or after delivery that you could soak a tampon in it or take a sits bath, and that helps soothing and it helps heal the raw tissues. And also conjunctivitis, like as an eye wash. So a lot of topical use. Oh, and sore throat, mucous membranes. You could drink it for a sore throat. Anything's soothing.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Yeah. Yeah, because it has those anti-inflammatory, for lack of better word, or cooling properties to it that I think are really so advantageous. And I love that they were using it for sore throats because that's another one of those things that people just today don't really think about. But as I said earlier, calendula is an antimicrobial herb and a lymphatic herb. And if we put those things together, we know that it's going to be really an ideal herb in times of sore throat because we already know it's easing inflammation. If we have that sore throat, there's inflammation happening in those mucosal tissues. So the respiratory tract being mucosal tissue, also like our skin, where it's healing in those ways. And then you consider the fact that it does really help with stimulation of the immune system. It helps to get our phagocytes to go around and gobble up all of the different bacteria and viruses that are causing you to be ill. That's part of the ways in which it's an immune-stimulating herb. And then again, we know when we have a sore throat, oftentimes we're really swollen, right? You've got the swollen lymph nodes. Hey, calendula, you beautiful frangila, you are an amazing lymphatic herb, right? So we are gonna get that stuff moving through. And it's also taking all of the icky stuff that those phagocytes ate up and saying, nope, we're gonna flush you out of the body too. So it's gonna speed your return to vitality from being ill after that nasty sore throat or whatever kind of infection has happened here. I think that it is really, really a great herb and so underutilized in that way. And like you talked about the skin issues and the rashes and ulcers or weeping wounds. I think about, oh yeah, of course, calendula is a great astringent. So we know when we have an astringent herb, topically it's gonna kind of tone and tighten weeping kind of sores and things along those lines. Plus, again, those antimicrobial properties, if we have an open wound or an open sore, like that's a prime area for bacteria to get into the skin and cause more infection. So calendula is going to work topically triple time here. It's gonna fight off the infection, it's going to close it up a bit with the astringent properties as well as having those vulnerary wound healing properties. Hooray, calendula! It's really just such a uh a magical herb. And it's it's another one I really like to use a lot for burns.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Again, it's great for burns.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So, and and I love that they touched on using it for conjunctivitis because calendula is really specific for the eyes, and I think about that too. It's specific in quite a few different ways. Like if you have just really tired eyes, or if you have been staring at a screen for too long, I feel like hi, that's me. I definitely stare at a screen way too much, and I think a lot of us do today, with so many things being online. It is really nice for conjunctivitis. When my daughter was just two weeks old, she had conjunctivitis. And what did I turn to? I made a tea with calendula, chamomile, fennel, and golden seal. It was a very strong tea, and I was very, very sure to uh filter it because we don't want to risk getting anything into the eye, but I basically just did a little eye wash and then held a little compress of those herbs on her eye, and it was better like the very next day. So it was really, really cool to see that happen and just the way it has that affinity for the eye. Like I look at a beautiful calendula flower, and if you look in those ray disc flowers coming out of this Asteraceae family plant, it's almost like looking into an eye. So I think about the doctrine of signatures here, and I think about how brilliant it is that calendula is in our eye food here at Eclectic Herb, along with other amazing herbs like King Rapaloba and Bilberry, to really make an incredibly supportive blend for those with the bloodshot, tired, watery, screen-fatigued eyes. Definitely check that out. If you're listening and you're like, oh my gosh, that's me. Try this formula because it is really dancing the right herbs together. But all that being said, the eclectics were brilliant. And I really love that they also talk about how important it is to use the fresh herbs. And you already mentioned this, but it really does dry things up really quickly. And you can see the color and vitality and life force of the herb just kind of goes away. If you've ever gone to an herb shop or maybe bought dried herbs, dried calendula from Amazon or something horrible like that. Don't do that. You would see these yellow petals that just look lifeless. And that means that a lot of those medicinal attributes are also gone from that plant. So you might want herbs full of vitality.

SPEAKER_00 32:39

I think the big concern is if you get them on Amazon or somewhere like that, is it the correct plant? Or is it the um Tajitz? Because they use that for ceremonial purposes in some other countries. So you get the dried herb, it might not even actually be the correct calendar. And it could be marigolds, and yeah, that's a big problem. Yeah. So I think you need to be a bit careful. And it is one of those ones that dries out, you don't know how long it's been sitting on the shelf. So if you get it and it's got no color left, it could have been sitting there. Like somebody gets it, they dry it, sits there for a year, then they send it into Amazon, it sits there for another year, and then you buy it and it sits on your shelf. Three years old. One thing you can tell when you pick it, it's it's quite sticky and it's it's resinous. And freeze drying preserves that resinous kind of quality within.

SPEAKER_01 33:23

You know what I love when I pick it, like when your fingers get all sticky, but just the smell of calendula. It has a smell. You know, you wouldn't think that it's like that delightful, but I think when you build that relationship with the plant and you've harvested it year after year and you know what great medicine it is, at least for me, I'm like, this is a smell I absolutely love. It's not like really yummy, but it's calangula. It's my fragrance.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

Oh it's not a floral sweet fragrance like a rose or anything like that. It's more of a, I'd have to say kind of resinous herbie.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

It almost smells like medicine, right? It smells like medicine, it's earthy. Yeah. Um, hey, Chris, one thing I love about having this show with you is how well traveled you are and how much knowledge you have about ways that different herbs are used around the world. And I would love to hear some stories about our beautiful frangela, calangela, in other parts of the world.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

And interestingly enough, however it's used in whatever culture, it's always the same. Irritation, wound healing, soothing. It's not native here to the US, so we can assume that the settlers brought it with them because it was it was a huge herb back in the day. They used to call it pot marigold, which means it was it used to go on the pot for cooking and kitchen use. And even as Culpepper mentioned, it was one that was known by everybody. So they would have wanted to bring it to put in their own gardens here. So they brought it with them to the United States.

SPEAKER_01 34:59

Well, yeah, I'm so grateful that they brought it with them because I mean, I'm sure eventually we would have figured it out and got it over here to the land that I currently reside in. Um, but gosh, yeah, such a beautiful, beautiful plant to have around. Obviously, so much power in its remedies for us, as we've already talked about. But let's talk about what a giving, generous, lovely, bright sun shiny when I think about the Mediterranean. Like here we go, lion, Leo, sun, all of that all again with this incredibly giving plant. So if somebody wants to grow calendula in their garden or even in a pot, what do you got to share with them?

SPEAKER_00 35:44

It is super easy to grow. And you'll be surprised at how much medicine or how many flowers just a single plant will give you. So if you start with one, you're gonna get more than enough of that. And then if you the more you pick the flowers, the more they grow. And this they also prolifically produce seeds. So it's an annual plant, but I have had them survive the winter if it's a mild winter. So sometimes they come back and they keep producing. And a single plant will also produce uh tons of seeds, like a big bag. If you let all the flower heads go to seed, you'll have so many seeds that you'll have hundreds of calendar plants the next year. It's pretty easy. You grow it, it needs sun, it's like a sun-loving plant, and just regular water, but it can be a little bit drought tolerant, so you don't need to be super regular about watering it. You have to look after it like a plant, and then it it grows, it's probably about oh inches, maybe about two feet tall, two to three feet tall, and then it has beautiful orangey flowers. Sometimes they go yellow, and then for care, you just go out there and and pick them.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Yeah, I love that. And pick them again and pick them again. Like its whole job is to reproduce all of the time. So if you're gathering those flowers before the seeds have the opportunity to form, this plant's like, oh wait, I've got to make more babies. Oh wait, I've got to make more babies. And gosh, just so darn giving. And you know what's really funny? You mentioned how sometimes it can overwinter. I live in the foothills of Mount Hood where it's very rainy and dark all winter long. And last November I saw a calendula flower bloom. And I was like, what is a calendula flower doing in my garden right now? And that plant is currently in flower still. It went through the whole winter, and I've never seen that happen. So on one hand, I was very excited because yay, there's my beautiful frendula. You're so golden and vibrant and lovely, and you put me in a good mood just by seeing you. And on the other hand, I'm like, oh, you're not supposed to be here at this time of year, and that makes me worry about our beautiful planet.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

So I had the same thing. So I still have my calendula plants from last year, shockingly enough, in a pot. And then I planted new ones, fresh ones for this year, and the ones from last year are much bigger and doing pretty well. Lots of flowers and stuff. The way I do calendulas, I'll plant it. Probably for me, just personal use. I think three plants is enough because it does get quite big. Tons of flowers on it, and then I'll pick flowers all summer long, and then I'll let some go to seed, and then I'll harvest the seed off the calendula so I can plant it again. Some of the seeds will drop and it will self-seed, but sometimes it's easier if you just pick them and then plant them again in the very, very early spring for them to come back.

SPEAKER_01 38:23

Yeah, thankfully they're really easy seeds to gather. When when I had my apothecary, uh, one of the women that worked for me was a really incredible artist, and she painted this beautiful calendula mural. And on it, she would like she got really specific with the ray uh disc flowers and the petals, which are ray disc flowers, and then the seed as well was on the wall. And when I left that space, uh, that was the thing that I was most sad to leave was that painting. I learned the lesson to never have somebody paint on walls you don't own. It was just an amazing, amazing mural. So, anyways, there are so many ways that we can use collagen. And let's just take a little time and share some of our favorite recipes. I'd love to hear some of yours.

SPEAKER_00 39:09

Oh, my favorite way to use it is pretty simple. I like to make a wash, especially with the fresh flowers over summer, and just make a cup of fresh tea and then I just keep it in the fridge. Or you can make ice cubes. You know, sometimes you get a burn and you think, what am I gonna do? I'm gonna run my hand under the tab. I like to keep calendula ice cubes in the freezer, calendula tea ice cubes, and then I'll wrap that in a cloth and then I'll just hold it against the burn and it works really well. Um tell me you put petals in your ice cubes. I do sometimes ice cubes with little floral things, even little um violets and pans is so pretty. Oh yeah. Yeah, that's one way to use them. Um great as a mouthwash as well, and then in the bath, the calendula bath is really soothing. If you anything like you're sore or you just want something soothing, I love the calendula flowers in the bath. Edible petals, so throw them on things like three salads or like a garnish, some little violets. And I have dyed with it before, just the steam method where we rolled up um little hankies with different flowers in them, including calendula, and then steamed them in Chinese stinger baskets. And it was very pretty. It was kind of like a yellowy, yellowy color.

SPEAKER_01 40:21

That sounds like a really fun thing to do. How about you, Mal? We should do that. Yeah, absolutely. So I already shared like what I do with like the foot funk for my partner. One of the primary ways that I've always used it internally is either as a tea or taking freeze-dried capsules and opening up the capsule and putting it into like applesauce when I'm working with a client or for myself who is doing the work to heal the gut. That's such a great way to get it into the body with a really good quality applesauce. And that powder, you could add in plantain powder or something along those lines that'll help with the healing process for the gut wall. I think I love that. And I am a huge proponent for using fresh flowers in the oil infusion process. I know a lot of people are afraid to do that because oil and water don't mix and they definitely create mold and bacteria. But there are ways to go about it when you use a flower or a water bath and then you gotta decant it multiple times afterwards and just really make sure that that moisture is able to dissipate off of the oil. But I definitely have found that it makes my oil significantly stronger than a lot of other people's that I've tried in the past. Hooray, fresh plants, you know. Um, I think I just said tea, but I used to formulate a tea that I would use all of the time called digesties, specific for digestive issues. And I would use things like peppermint and chamomile and lemon balm and fennel, a few other herbs in there. But calendula was also a feature in there because what a great way to get all of those herbs into the gut, right? Either as food or a nice simple tea. It's going exactly to where it needs to do the work that it needs to do. So pretty simple here, also. You know, there's always just like, hey, take the fresh petals and put it on your kiddo's ouchie or scrape. Great. I love that. Put it into that infused oil that I was talking about and use that for breast massage or lymphatic massage. It'd be really, really lovely.

SPEAKER_00 42:34

Yeah, I find I've had that with the the oils when you go too fresh and it goes cloudy and then it gets the mold on the top, and then you don't want to use it. Recently I've been using freeze-dried flowers for that, and it's great. They sell pretty um reasonable home freeze dryers now. So I just have one sitting down in my basement, and then I'll get the flowers, store them up in the freezer, and they look beautiful when they're frozen. They still look like the flower just sleeping. So my freezer is full of frozen calendula flowers until I have enough to put them in the freeze dryer. And then the trick to freeze drying them, if you put them in the freeze dryer, just as they are, the petals puff and they look really pretty, but they kind of lose their form a bit. They're still good. I think for work we just put them all in the freeze dryer because we have so many coming over the harvest. But if you want it to look good, then you dip it and water in the freeze dryer, and then it it looks just like the fresh calendar flower still. And I think um by freeze-drying it, you can stop that degradation immediately. So you pick them, put them in the freezer, then in the freeze dryer, and they look just like the fresh flower, they look significantly different than the dried one. And then you can take them year-round because I think with the tea, it's good when it's fresh and it's there and you can freeze it and everything like that, but it's still a bit different. With having the freeze-dried flowers or the freeze-dried capsules, you can take it year-round. And I think where the capsules are really good uh to heal the gut, so any kind of gut irritation, and then also for the lymphatic system, they work pretty quickly to clear that lymphatic funk and get the lymphatic system moving again. But if I've got any kind of gut irritation, then I'll take a few calendula capsules. And it's one thing I wish more people knew about because you think of the topical, but yeah, think for internal healing as well. They work great.

SPEAKER_01 44:17

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. It it's phenomenal. It's definitely one of the protocols I've used over and over again and that I share with my students all of the time. But I think about just now, like as you were talking about the freeze dry it and the capsules, and I think about like ulcerative wounds or weeping wounds and how nice it would be to take that powder. Like you talked about doing a wash with like a tea topically, which would be lovely too. But like if you're really wanting some superpower, I would go for one of those powdered capsules and put that directly on a weeping wound of any kind. I think that would be phenomenal. If I didn't have fresh calendula right there or everything else that I needed right away, I think. Heck yeah, that would be great.

SPEAKER_00 44:57

Yeah, absolutely. I think historically they used to use it for even lacerations and for that wound healing because it's antimicrobial, as you say, and healing and astringent.

SPEAKER_01 45:07

Powerful, powerful, beautiful herb. Amazing. Well, I was really looking forward to uh having this episode with you because as you can tell, talking about calendula lights my soul on fire and makes me really, really happy. And uh I just love this herb so much. And I hope that the listeners that are here tuning in really start to open your mind to using calendula beyond just being the skin herb and welcome that frendula into your body for the many ways that it can help you heal on so many different levels. And of course, if you would like to try our freeze-dried calendula capsules, we've got them for you here at Eclectic Herb. You know, we're gonna put a link in the show notes and down below. Also, if you've been staring at a screen all day, every day, and your eyes are tired and your bloodshot, and they're like, why am I still looking at all of this blue light? Try our iFood, which absolutely features our beautiful Frangula Calendula. And thank you guys so much for taking the time to listen to us share our passion and love for Calendula and for tuning into the episode. I hope your week is wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 46:22

Thank you, everybody, and good luck trying to grow this herb. It's a it's a great one just to put in a pot so you can have your own supply.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

Take care. Bye. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Eclectic Herbal Wisdom. We are so grateful you spent your time with us. And if you enjoyed this episode, we'd love it if you share it with a friend who might appreciate it as well. And if you have a moment, leaving us a review really helps other plant lovers to find the show.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

We'd love to connect with you. Be sure to reach out to us on social media or on our website at eclectic herb. Let us know if you like the show, if you have any questions, or if you have any ideas for future shows.

SPEAKER_01 47:05

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SPEAKER_00 47:13

Before you go, a quick reminder. Everything we share on this podcast is for educational purposes only. We are here to inspire and inform that this isn't medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before studying any new herbal protocol, especially if you're pregnant, nursing, or taking medications. Thanks again for tuning into the show. Until next time, may the plants guide you.

SPEAKER_01 47:38

Take care.