OFF TOPIC : Jewelweed to treat poison ivy

[Teresa Kramer]

Jewelweed grows wild in our stream valley parks here in VA. I gather the seeds from there in the early fall and just toss them into “wild” flower beds. They grow like wildfire the next spring. Sorry I have no idea where to buy them. They are hard to recognize till they bloom.
It’s easy to recognize the flowers (orange trumpets, few and far between; bloom in mid- to late summer.) There are good photos on line; google jewelweed. The leaves look like impatiens but are on very tall stems—sometimes almost waist high; higher and bushy in my good soil. They like shade, of course, and prefer a good deal of water. Often grow wild in shady culverts, in NH for example.
I have gathered the leaves and stems and poured boiling water over them to make a decoction (I think that is called) that is orangey reddish brown. Then I freeze that into ice cubes and use them to soothe poison ivy.
Also take the fresh leaves and stems when available and rub them into poison ivy (or where I might have come into contact with poison ivy) to easy itching and make it dry up very quickly. Interestingly, jewel weed very often grows next to poison ivy.
Teresa (Northern VA, USA)
Change the world one small loan at a time...

See www.kiva.org to find out how!

________________________________
Trying to find something native to grow, cultivate, harvest and use for the poison ivy issue here in KY. I have been researching jewelweed