Calendula fights the athlete's foot fungus and encourages skin healing.
2 cups (500ml) boiling water
4 tablespoons dried calendula flowers
1/4 cup (60 ml) apple cider vinegar

Pour the water over the flowers, cover, and steep until lukewarm. Strain, and pour into a basin large enough to hold your feet. Cover your feet with warm water and add the vinegar, which increases skin acidity and discourages fungal growth. Soak your feet twice daily for 20 minutes.

Source:1001 Natural Remedies, Laurel Vukovic

Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
Family: Asteraceae (Compostitae)
The herbal powers that be, those powers who locate themselves in a top secret herb garden or apothecary tucked away in a place that is only revealed to the most elite herbalists.

There are many, many ways to deepen your relationship with this versatile and friendly plant. Calendula is easy to grow, easy to harvest, easy to use, and extremely powerful, yet gentle medicine.

Calendula is easy to grow. Though you can dry them, we often FREEZE all the buds from our garden. We can then make fresh poultices any time we need them. Calendula, along with comfrey, is our most used plants for poultices.

Use your senses when you find calendula. Crush the flowers in your fingers. What does it smell like? How does it taste? How does it feel? What is the branching pattern on the leaves? How does it grow? What different color flowers do you see? How does it like to grow? On it's own? In a patch?

This was my first introduction to a plant that has become a trusted herbal ally and central component in our family’s herbal medicine chest. Calendula plants enjoy rich garden soil and the seeds can be planted early in the spring. The plants will grow to a height of about 2 feet and will bloom in mid to late summer. Their yellow and orange blossoms bring a cheerful splash of color to any garden bed. And, as long as you keep harvesting the blossoms, the plants will continue to bloom for several months.

Last year I picked many, many blossoms and simply froze them in locking freezer bags. Why? Well, because calendula poultices are one of my favorite remedies and though they bloom for several months, fresh blossoms for poultices aren’t always around when I need one.

To make a poultice simply put 2 or 3 blossoms (fresh or frozen) in a mortar with a couple teaspoons of water and grind them with the pestle until you have a thick soupy mix. This can also be accomplished in a blender if you prefer, and flour can be added to help the poultice hold together.

It’s amazing how plants like these can pull the heat right out of an infected or burned area.

Not only are calendula blossoms cooling and soothing for irritated skin issues they are also astringent, antiseptic and antibacterial making them a wonderful remedy for diaper rashes, cuts and scrapes as well as pimples, eczema, herpes sores, fever blisters, and even sunburn.

You can also dry the blossoms and infuse them in water to make washes. These are sometimes easier to apply than a poultice and are just as effective. To make an infusion, put one ounce of dried calendula blossoms in a quart jar and fill the jar with boiling water. Let this tea steep for at least 4 hours and then strain. Dip a washcloth in the tea and lay over the affected area. As with the poultice, you will want to change out the rag a few times.

Finally, you can make wonderfully moisturizing, healing oil by infusing the blossoms in olive or almond oil. Use the oil by itself or you can make it into a wonderful healing salve or lotion. But that is a subject for another article. If you’re feeling adventurous, experiment a bit.