Lemon Balm my balm

My lemon balm (Melissa officinallis)  is in full flush at the moment.

Lemon balm, Melissa officinallis

Unfortunately it’s not that terrific dried..that lovely lemoney goodness gets lost with the drying process.

So apart from drinking it as a fresh tea or putting it in the kids bath to induce sleepiness (ha!),  I’ve made a balm to tackle cold sores (my husband and eldest son are prone to them).  Lemon balm with its anti viral properties is highly effective in combating cold sores.  I’ve made an infusion of lemon balm before and dabbed it on my poor sons lip and it healed in super quick time.  Which is what inspired me to make something that will always be around ~ as lemon balm tends to die back or at least get a bit scrappy during winter.

Using the same method as I did for the baby bum balm I seeped the herbs a wee bit longer and used a bit more oil.  This was due to the fact that I was using fresh herbs and not just lemon balm…

Our grand eucalyptus tree

I decided to beef it up with eucalyptus and fresh ginger, I chose these herbs for their anti-viral properties.

Fresh chopped herbs, eucalyptus, lemon balm and grated ginger

It turned out a glorious green colour.

And I’m freakin’ stoked to say that it works really well!  It actually seems to be a cure-all as it’s good for athletes foot too!

Quantities of herbs I used were; 110g fresh Eucalyptus leaves, 45g fresh Lemon balm leaves and stalks, approx 2 Tbl fresh grated ginger.

Let me know if you give it a go or leave a comment if you need to know more~