Fairy Dandelion Oil

Fairy Dandelion Oil
 
This Spring, our Piemonte garden has been coated in a sunny yellow hue, since the beginning of April.  Dandelions are everywhere.  There are also plenty of patches of Daisy’s too, fighting for the sunlight, as the grass grows taller every day.

I just had to formulate a plan for this abundance.  My research led me to one of my favourite ideas for herbs, a rubbing oil.  I love rubbing oil.  Last year I made a few pots of St. Johns Wort oil for carpal tunnel syndrome and muscle aches.  Dandelions and Daisies are in this area of natural medicine too.
Dandelion flowers have great healing properties for strains and pulled muscles.  Daisies are great for bumps and bruises. What a partnership.

I don’t have kids but can imagine that collecting these pretty flowers would be a great fun outing for young children to get involved in and to appreciate nature’s bounty.  I have nicknamed this rub, 'Fairy Oil', as we all really know fairies live among the Daisy’s and Dandelions and have magical powers for healing!
 
Instructions

1. Collect Dandelion flower heads/Daisy flower heads at midday, so that the flowers have dried off after any morning dew. Just snip off under the flower head so the petals stay on.
2. Lay them out on a big plate to dry overnight.  This also gives any little insects nestling inside the petals plenty of time to escape!
3. Separate the flower heads, if you collected both Dandelions and Daisies, to put each in a separate jar.
4. Stuff the flower heads compactly into a jar – the jar size depends on how many flower heads you were able to collect. 
5. Then pour olive oil on top of the flower heads filling up to 1 cm from the top. 
6. Poke a skewer/kebab stick in among the oil and flowers and poke about to release any trapped air bubbles.
7. Put the lid on tightly and label.
8. Place outside in a sunny spot for 2 weeks. The oil will turn bright yellow!
9. Then strain out the flower heads and put the oil into a sterile jar, place in your medicine cupboard for the next strained muscle or bruise in the house.
10. Store in a dark, cool place and use within 1 year

These make great gifts too, for like-minded fairy people!
 
If you have any leftover Dandelion flower heads that didn’t fit in the jar, you can also eat Dandelion petals in a salad!
 
What you can use Dandelion oil for

Dandelion reduces heat, alleviate swelling and inflammation.
You can use it by rubbing a little of the oil on aching sore muscles and joints, swollen breasts and tense backs and necks. Its anti-inflammatory properties are extremely beneficial for treating arthritis and gout by topical application.
 
Daisy oil is great gently rubbed on bruises, sprains, sore muscles and dried cuticles.