What is  the difference between an herb and a weed?   Oh, that's easy, you're thinking.  A weed grows along the side of the road, or in a ditch, or in the woods, and an herb grows in a little pot you buy at Lowe's.  In this edition of the newsletter I am going to tell you about a weed that grows in all those places (except at Lowe's!) and is a real Coyote Cove star, taking center stage in one of our best-loved products.

     But first, let's define "herb".  No, on second thought, let's un-define or re-define herb.  The boundaries that separate herb from weed from flower from vegetable are not very clearly drawn.  Do you remember what the Herb of the Year for 2012 is, according to the International Herb Association?  (This was briefly mentioned in the June newsletter.)  It is the rose, certainly better known as a flower, but which is also an herb.  The humble dandelion (from the French dent-de-lion, or lion's tooth) is a wonderful example of a plant that falls nicely into all four categories.  Weed--I don't expect an argument on this point.  Vegetable--you won't argue if you've ever eaten fresh dandelion greens.  Herb--the roots, leaves, and flowers all have medicinal value, especially for the liver and gall bladder, and as a diuretic.  Flower--the first bouquet mothers usually receive, gripped in a toddler's chubby fist.  What is happier than a little juice glass of yellow dandelions on the kitchen table?

     The definition of an herb that I like best is..."a useful plant".  This makes sense to me, and is broad enough to give us a lot of room with which to play.  The weed I mentioned earlier that I hereby elevate to "herb" status is jewelweed, a very useful plant indeed when you come into contact with another weed that I won't so dignify, poison ivy.  Jewelweed is the natural antidote to poison ivy, and is extremely effective at both preventing and treating the itchy rash associated with it.

     Jewelweed's real name is Impatiens capensis.  Yes, it is related to the cute little impatiens you planted in your backyard, and no, those little plants won't do anything for your rash.  They are related, but not closely enough.  Jewelweed grows wild and is frequently found on creek banks and along roadsides.  It is a tall, airy-looking plant, five or six feet tall, which blooms in July and August here in Tennessee.  The flowers here are orange, although in other places they can be yellow to red, or even spotted.  The name comes not from the small flowers, but from the fact that water beads up on the dark green, waxy leaves, making little water "jewels" which sparkle charmingly in the sunlight.

     Poison ivy rash is carried and spread by the oil of the plant, which is called Urushiol.  You can contact it from the plant itself, of course, but also from your pet's hair, from tools or gloves or other clothing, and even from the skin of another person.  Not everyone is sensitive to Urushiol, but if you are you will know it the next day, when you develop itchy blisters.  Jewelweed works by neutralizing the Urushiol.  If you can recognize the jewelweed plant, and are lucky enough to have some growing nearby, you can pick the fresh plant and rub the juice from the leaves and stems onto your skin both before and after contact with the dreaded "leaves of three".  If that's not the case, you should have some Coyote Cove Jewelweed Soap on hand.  If you wash with the soap before going out to work in the yard or hike in the woods, you can prevent breaking out in the rash.  If you already have broken out, wash with the soap three or more times a day to reduce the itching and speed healing.  Always leave the lather on your skin for two or three minutes before rinsing off.  For best results if you know you are sensitive to poison ivy, wash before you go out, cover exposed skin as much as possible, and wash immediately when you come back in.  Wash the clothes as soon as possible too, and don't handle them any more than necessary.  Bathe the dog with jewelweed soap if you suspect he is the carrier.

     How do we make jewelweed soap?  Mike and I go out this time of year and cut down the big jewelweed plants, filling the back of the Jeep with them.  We bring them home and immediately rinse them off in the driveway, and cut them up into 5-6 inch chunks.  We stuff the chunks into sterile gallon-size glass jars and cover them with olive oil.  We let the jars sit for a month or so, and then strain the plant parts out.  We also take lots of the leaves and smaller stems and cover with boiling water, and let that sit to make a tea.  We strain the leaves out after it has steeped, and freeze the tea until the oil is ready, in September.  If you remember the newsletter on how soap is made, you know that it is essentially oil and water.  Well, now we have jewelweed-infused olive oil, and jewelweed tea.  Add the lye, and voila, jewelweed soap. 

     One important note, only fresh jewelweed is effective against urushiol.  Dried jewelweed will not help.  I have only ever met one other soap-maker who makes a jewelweed soap, and she unfortunately purchases dried jewelweed from a supply house.  That kind of soap will get you clean, but it won't work against poison ivy.  If you ever buy jewelweed products from someone other than Coyote Cove, ask to make sure that they use only fresh, not dried jewelweed.  I have tried to make other jewelweed products besides soap.  I did make a salve for a while, and I have tried to make a spray.  They worked well to prevent and treat the rash, but have a very short shelf life.  Fresh jewelweed just doesn't last long, except in soap form.  If you remember naturalist Euell Gibbons,  he worked to find a format to keep jewelweed around the house, and was not successful.  The good news is that the soap remains effective for at least a year (I have used year-old jewelweed soap with good results.  I haven't tried any that was older than that, but it may very well work, also).

     Ask Mike about being my jewelweed guinea pig.  I am not very sensitive to poison ivy, but he is, so I deliberately gave him three itchy patches on his arm, so that I could test the effectiveness of the salve against the soap, and both of them against a placebo.  They both worked equally well, and both better than the placebo, of course.  He loves to tell that story, but he agreed to the test!

     The salve is not available any more, but the soap is available year-round, and I have also found that the Coyote Cove Eczema Cream with its natural anti-inflammatories, helps as well.  I hope you never need the Jewelweed Soap, or the Eczema Cream, but if you ever do, you know where to find them:   www.coyotecove.com.