Poison Ivy and Antidotes

The Evil Weed
Two years ago I missed my family reunion because I had poison ivy on my upper lip.
I had been working out in the garden, pulling out weeds, wiping the sweat from my upper lip, and sure enough, not long after, the whole area under my nose swelled up and pretty soon my upper lip was almost below my lower one.

This was quite embarrassing; I went to church anyway and endured the chuckles of others, but couldn't bring myself to travel two states away and endure it from my extended family.

Jewelweed, or "Touch-Me-Not"
I didn't know that wherever poison ivy lurks, an antidote can also be found. I am talking about a plant called jewelweed, (impatiens, or "touch-me-not"), which can be found along moist woodland edges, usually near poison ivy. You snap it off and dab the sap on the poison ivy to relieve the itching. This neutralizes the urushiol in the poison ivy plant. You can simply take the entire plant, roll it into a ball, then dab, (not rub or smear) it over area that was exposed to the poision plant. Tinctures made from the plant are only about 20% as effective as the real thing.

Jewelweed Soap
There is even a soap made with this plant in it; it is said that if you wash with it during poison ivy season, you won't even GET poison ivy. Get it at http://store.altnature.com/poivre1.html

Instructions on making a jewelweed tincture are below.

At any rate, what I'm getting at is, I believe that God gave us a remedy for every ill. We just have to find out what it is and use it.

Other Poison Ivy Antidotes:
Drip the juice of the milkweed plant onto the rash
Green bean tea used as a wash
Beech bark tea (used topically?) - this grows in my garden
Cattail flour - we have cattails all over the place
Goldenseal root extract
Vitamin C, taken both internally and externally
Gooseberry berries and juice - Indian gooseberry (amla) can be bought in an ayurvedic vitamin paste called Chawanprash, found in Indian stores- use internally and externally and it's supposed to destroy poison ivy within 4 hours
Oak (bark?) tea in baths
Okra used with slippery elm and white oak bark as poultice
Crushed leaves of plantain - (rub in longer than jewelweed)
Crushed boiled sage leaves with whole wheat flour used as poultice
Solomon’s seal root tea used topically (this grows in my garden, too)
Sumac tea used as skin cleanser (this grows, unwanted, in my yard)
Watermelon flesh applied directly to skin (I WANT this to grow in my garden)
Yellow dock leaves and roots used as a substitute for jewelweed

As you can see, there is more than one way to get rid of poison ivy, and a lot of them can be found nearby. Too bad I didn't know even one at the time!

Jewelweed Tincture
Jewelweed is a green plant with colorful bell-like orange or red "jewels" toward the top of the plant. We have some right by our creek. If you can figure out which plant it is, you can make a jewelweed tincture. Make it before the first killing fall frost so it will last for the winter. Keep it refrigerated, and after about six months or so discard it and make a fresh batch.

Fill a sterile 8-ounce jar with freshly picked, clean jewelweed plants (blossoms, leaves, and stems--not the roots). Press the plant material down till the
jar is full. Cover the plants with apple cider vinegar or white vinegar. Cover tightly and shake gently. Label and date the jar. Let it rest in a dark, cool place for a 7-10 days. After straining, it's ready to use.