What? The common Pawpaw Ointment is mostly petroleum jelly?

Call me naive, but I assumed that the pawpaw ointment I was using was made up of….well mostly pawpaw, not 96% petroleum jelly. Recently I took a closer look – the only ingredient I found on the container is ‘Carica papaya 39mg/g Fresh Fermented Fruit’  and a little note on the side saying ‘Contains Potassium Sorbate 0.1mg/g as Preservative’. Nowhere does it say petroleum jelly. I thought ingredients, especially main ones, needed to be listed. 

(Note: In Australia what most people call papaya, we call pawpaw.)

A-ha – only 39mg of pawpaw for every 1000mg. I should have read closer and delved deeper. Pawpaw ointment has always been put forward as a natural product so I didn’t suspect. When I first started using it back as a teenager, you could only get it in health food stores. Now the little red tubes are available just about everywhere. It’s promoted as a great all round natural healing ointment that is antibacterial and antimicrobial – good for lots of day to day issues.

Australians seem to be addicted to this stuff. So many households have it and I imagine many women (and men) would have a little tube in their bags. 

As it turns out, there are lots of other pawpaw ointments around that do not contain petrochemical by-products –  but I was using the little red tubes and tubs of ointment made close by in Brisbane. 

I know for sure that many you have already discovered this piece of information, but if you haven’t, now you know. I must admit, I’m feeling pretty silly. For 30 years I have used it on little cuts and scrapes, on nappy rash, chaffing, insect bites… I never knew it was mostly petroleum jelly –  a non-renewable hydrocarbon made from crude oil! How did I miss that? 

What is Petroleum Jelly?

Petroleum jelly is a by-product of the oil industry and can contain petrolatum and mineral oil. Apparently almost all skincare products in the US have Petroleum Jelly/Petrolatum/Mineral Oil because it’s a cheap filler. It’s also used in hair care products to give shine.

It coats the skin like plastic. It’s a barrier to lock moisture in or out – preventing the skin from breathing, excreting and absorbing. It slows the skin’s natural development and can contribute to premature ageing. 

Highly regarded scientist and eco-activist, David Suzuki, warns against using petrolatum on his website and explains why the EU restricts its use in cosmetics: (http://davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/chemicals-in-your-cosmetics—petrolatum/). His site says that :

‘petrolatum can be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Studies suggest that exposure to PAHs — including skin contact over extended periods of time — is associated with cancer. On this basis, the European Union classifies petrolatum a carcinogen, and restricts its use in cosmetics. PAHs in petrolatum can also cause skin irritation and allergies. ‘

Additional research done by the Environmental Working Group  (www.ewg.org/skindeep/2007/02/04/impurities-of-concern-in-personal-care-products)adds that:

“Many of the cosmetic industry’s chemical safety assessments reveal that common petroleum-based cosmetic ingredients can be contaminated with a cancer-causing impurity called 1,4-dioxane.”

While the pawpaw ointment company in question claims to use pharmaceutical grade petroleum jelly (petrolatum) that is not carcinogenic. They say it is also hypo-allergenic and completely safe for all the family. This said, it still is from the petroleum industry and personally, I would much rather put natural products on my skin given the choice. I ignorantly thought I was. 

What now…?

In actual fact, I most often reach for a big leaf of Aloe vera from my garden for burns, rashes, cuts and so on. I also strap on a chunk of Aloe gel and let it soak in – for animals too. It is wonderful and totally fresh and potent. Not so great in my bag, but my own comfrey ointment is great for this.

Since I’ve been making my own comfrey lotion (using beeswax, olive oil and comfrey leaves from my garden) I’ve not been using the pawpaw ointment that much any more, but I’m keen though to learn how to make it and use some of those pawpaws that are ripening in my food forest.

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Chopped rosemary (flowers and leaves), oregano and thyme.

Sweet basil

My usual pattern is to harvest fresh from the garden before a meal, foraging for what looks the best that day. I often discover little surprises too – plants that have self-seeding. In the subtropics I can do this – there is something growing all year round. There’s always lots of plants for flavour – oregano, marjoram,  thyme, rosemary, garlic chives, welsh onion, lemon myrtle, vietnamese mint, lemongrass, tulsi…

Part of my mammoth oregano patch – usually a lower creeper, but here heading upwards before it flowers.

Freezing foods, and preserving in general, has not been in my frame of thinking – until recently. I have been an avid lover of ferments for some time – since becoming a kim chi convert in Korea, and was taught how to make my own by the grandmothers in rural Korean villages and a wonderful Korean WWOOFer.  (WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) is the international work-exchange program where people come and work on your organic or permaculture property for 4-6 hours in exchange for food and accommodation. )

Back when I was growing up – in my mind, preserving was the domain of the older generations, not something our ‘modern generation’ did. It always seemed connected with older women – like the Country Women’s Association stalls with their rows of jams, marmalades, lemon butter and pickles all made with the little fabric tops trimmed using pinking shears.

I didn’t grow up doing this – our family just ate freshly, and this is what we tend to do now.  I used to like getting a jar of the ‘old ladies’ preserves, but it never entered into my mind that I would make those things.

We mostly bought food (good food), cooked it and ate it – simple, or so it seemed – but this was only on the surface.  I have come to completely rethink my attitude, as a society we are coming to rethink our attitudes.  Food is not just to fill your tummy, and a collection of nutrients. Food nourishes far more than our bodies, it nourishes our minds and emotional well-being, and is central to our culture. Through connecting around food we create deep meaning, and can support resilient communities.

My perception of a simple life is one which embraces local and slow food, home made and home grown products, and a way of life that is low-impact and has low-energy use. The simple life is a connected life – connected to earth, place, community, family, self, garden, home….

With this frame of thinking, it’s definitely time I changed my pattern – or at least added new dimensions to it – to embrace the art and science of preserving food. I want to know more about preserving, drying, infusing, freezing, fermenting… My aim is to learn new skills all the time about this. I have so much to learn.

A very simple starting point is making frozen herb cubes. It’s such a great idea for capturing those wonderful basil and coriander moments – so is making more pesto!  Being in the subtropics, preserving seems less about ensuring enough food – because there’s something all year round.  Its more about making the most of the seasonal abundance and extending the season of available produce…about wasting less too.

Until now, my (solar powered) freezer has had very little use – just for ice cubes to add to my fresh lime juice, and for making homemade frozen icy poles for the kids from our juice or smoothies. I actually I selected my fridge because it had the smallest freezer:fridge ratio, which makes it more energy efficient.

I’m not planning on getting a bigger freezer, but perhaps making better use of it. Soon I’ll use up a lot of it to store our big crop of bananas that are beginning to ripen. We’ll eat what we can fresh, I’ll dry some, we’ll make banana smoothies,  banana pancakes, banana bread, choc-banana cake. What we still have left over I will peel and freeze make banana ice-cream (just frozen bananas pureed).

We’ve starting eating the bananas – so delicious and so incredibly filling! They felt somehow so much more dense than the ones from the shop.  Another couple of these on their way.

Making Frozen Herb Cubes

1. Chop the fresh herb leaves to your desired consistency
2. Divide them among the sections of the ice cube tray
3. When the ice cubes are frozen, remove them from the tray and store in a sealed container – labelled of course with the herb name and date of freezing. 
4. For freshness, it’s preferable to use them within a year.

Chopped herbs distributed across the ice tray.

Segments topped up with water before going into the freezer.

Frozen herbs – rosemary (leaf and flower), oregano and thyme ice cubes

Making Frozen Herbs in Oil

1. Collect 1 cup of fresh herbs
2. Puree in a food processor with 1/4 cup of olive oil or another mild oil.
3. Pour into ice cube trays
4. When the herb cubes are frozen, remove them from the tray and store in a sealed container with a of the herb name and date of freezing. 

If herbs are frozen straight after they are harvested, they will maintain more of their nutritional benefit. Drying herbs can loose over 50% of their nutritional and medicinal benefit. Rather than using dried herbs for teas, try using these cubes of freshly frozen herbs.

There are so many ways to use and preserve the abundance that herbs bring to gardens. When I go and do talks around the region,   love hearing about different ways people use their herbs. I have learnt so much from these conversations and from farmers and gardeners everywhere. Let’s all keep talking and sharing to keep this knowledge alive and spreading, and inspiring new ideas.

The post Extending an abundant herb harvest – how to make frozen herb cubes appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Ingredients:

• 1 long daikon
• 2 medium carrots
• A big handful of fresh greens
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 cm ginger root
• 2 fresh red chillies
• Water

Method:

1. Peel and cube the daikon
2. Peel chop and grate carrot
3. Mix in bowl with a tablespoon of salt.
4. Let stand for 30 minutes. While waiting….
5. Collect greens from the garden (this time I used Kale, Comfrey, Parsley, Garlic Chives)
6. Make a paste of garlic, ginger, chilli, onion and water – I used my food processor. I used just enough water to make a paste.
7. After 30 minutes, rinse the daikon/carrot mix thoroughly to remove salt.
8. In a big bowl, mix daikon/carrots with the ginger/garlic/chilli/onion paste by hand. Make sure it is well worked through.
9. Pack into a sterilised jar avoiding air pockets being trapped in the mix. 
10. Ensure the top of the mix is covered with with liquid – you may need to add a little extra water if necessary.
11. Let stand for at east 24 hours, then check for your taste. 
12. Refrigerate and consume within a couple of weeks.

Cubed daikon radish and carrot being salted to soften them and remove excess water

Collect a range of greens from the garden to add into he mix

Mix the rinsed daikon/carrot mix with the leafy greens.

Pack in a jar with no air pockets and ensure the liquid comes to the top.

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