NPR News

Grow Your Own Drugs

NPR

Published March 4, 2010 at 9:38 AM EST

A few tablespoons of this garlicky vinegar in hot water make a powerful antifungal foot bath, but don't use it on broken skin — it will hurt! The vinegar takes 1 month to infuse but will last at least 6 months to 1 year. It tastes good in salad dressings, too.

ATHLETE'S FOOT

Garlic Footbath

10 bulbs garlic, peeled and finely chopped

100 g fresh sage leaves

2 cups (500 ml) cider vinegar

1. Place the chopped garlic and sage leaves in a jar, then add the cider vinegar. Seal and leave to infuse for 1 month, shaking occasionally.

USE Add 5 tbsp to a bowl of hot water, and soak feet for 15 minutes. Use 2 or 3 times a week in conjunction with "Garlic Talcum Powder" (see page 52).

This is a flexible recipe — feel free to try different combinations of ingredients by substituting other dried flowerheads and essential oils. You'll need a large biscuit cutter to shape the bomb — ideally1 to 11/2 inches (3 to 4 cm) wide and about 1 inch (3 cm) deep. Children will love helping you make this.

BATH BOMB

Lavender Bath Bomb

5 to 6 fresh lavender sprigs

1 tbsp citric acid powder

3 tbsp baking soda

10 drops of lavender essential oil

1 tsp vegetable or almond oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Once oven has reached that temperature, turn off heat and place the lavender, hanging upside down from a rack, in the oven to dry forabout 2 hours. When dry, remove the flowers from the stalks and set aside.

2. For the next stage you need to make sure that the bowl you are using, and your hands, are completely dry — otherwise the bomb will start fizzing. In a glass bowl, mix the citric acid and baking soda together. Add a few drops of lavender oil and 1 tsp dried lavender flowers, along with the vegetable or almond oil. Mix everything together with a metal spoon.

3. Place the biscuit cutter on top of a sheet of parchment paper. Put the mixture into the biscuit cutter and press down with the back of a spoon. The oil will need to evaporate so the bomb can set as a dry, hard block—let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes and preferably overnight.

STORAGE

Store in aluminum foil to keep out moisture.

VARIATION

If you are making this with children, you can add 1⁄2 tsp of edible glitter into the mix to create an even more dramatic effect.

With up to 80 percent of head lice now resistant to conventional treatments, the hunt is on for an effective and safe insecticide to treat nits — the tiny eggs that are notoriously hard to eradicate. This natural recipe, free of organophosphates, uses plant extracts with known insecticidal properties to kill both lice and the nits.

HEAD LICE

Neem Nit Treatment

Makes enough for 5-10 doses

20 tbsp (approx. 100 g) fresh rosemary leaves

20 tbsp (approx. 25 g) fresh lavender flowers

3/4 cup (200 ml) neem oil

3/4 cup (200 ml) almond oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp tea tree essential oil

1. Strip the rosemary leaves and lavender flowers from their sprigs.

2. Combine the neem and almond oil together in a measuring cup.

3. Crush half the rosemary and lavender in a mortar and pestle with a little of the oil to help ease the crushing process. Place the mashed-up herbs in a saucepan. Repeat with the second half of the rosemary and lavender, again adding a little oil for crushing.

4. Place the crushed herbs and the neem and almond oil in the pan, and add the minced garlic. Heat gently for about 20 minutes.

5. Strain through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Add the tea tree oil to the reserved oil, stir, then filter into a sterilized 1⁄2 pint (500 ml) bottle.

USE If using immediately, apply to dry hair, making sure that the hair is completely covered and that the oil penetrates to the scalp. Cover with a towel and leave on for at least 1 hour, or overnight if possible. Then wash off with two applications of shampoo. Apply conditioner, and comb through with a nit comb. Use the next application 7 days later, to deal with any nits that may hatch during that time. Comb through with the nit comb every 3 days.

STORAGE

Keeps for 6 months.