Hello darlings!
Well, I’ve done it! I’ve killed my Aloe Vera plant! I don’t know how, I don’t know when but last week when I went to water it, it fell apart on my hands! The roots were totally soaked and rotten. The succulent leaves came apart and fell from the plant.
My guess is that since we moved them indoor plants on the top of our kitchen hanging cabinets to keep them out of Natalia’s reach, their watering conditions changed along with their light ones. So I should have watered it less.
I was really sad to see my plant die since I really love all my plants, but I didn’t let it die in vain (dramatic I know!). I used the leaves to make and preserve the aloe gel for future use. Here is how you can do it.
Remember, you don’t have to kill your plant to do this! You can just cut of one leaf when you need to use it, or buy one from your grocery shop.
Gather your leaves and a sharp knife. Wash them thoroughly and cut the edges as close to the root as you can.
Take your knife and cut along the edges of the leaf in order to get rid of the prickles.
The anatomy of the Aloe Vera leaf looks really simple in all it’s greatness. It’s a type of sandwich the filling of which is the aloe gel you want. The “bread slices” of the sandwich are thin green leaves. So the next step requires some skill but nothing much. Place your knife between the upper green part of the leaf and the gel and slice it away carefully. You want to remove the green part leaving as much of the gel as possible.
Now take your knife (or a spoon if you are more comfortable with one) and remove the gel from the lower green part of the leaf. You want to get as much of the gel as you can. You now need to take the gel part and rince it thouroughly to get rid of any of the yellow hue you see on it. That's very important to get rid of since aloin can become toxic, so take care to remove it and only keep the gel.
Place the gel in a bowl and repeat the process for all your leaves.
Once you have the gel from all your leaves use a food processor or a hand held processor to turn it into a homogeneous gel. Then pour the gel into an ice tray and store in freezer.
The next time you have a need for aloe, pop a aloe ice cube out and use it!
Here are 4 brilliant ways to use this magnificent plant:
1. Mosquito bites
I have tested this over and over again since I am practically a 4 star Michelin restaurant for the mosquitoes here. It offers relief in seconds! Totally natural and safe for kids too!
2. Burns
Did you burn your hand in the oven? Did you spill hot water on it? Try putting the iced aloe on your burn for a couple of seconds. It will offer relief and not leave a scar. Don’t use it if you have a more serious burn and there is an open wound. Seek a doctor in that case.
3. Sunburns
You should know better than staying under the hot sun for more than 10 minutes but if you accidentally got sunburned there is nothing better than aloe to cool off! Place a couple of the aloe ice cubes along with water in a spraying bottle and spray on the affected area. It will work like a charm!
4. Hair mask
Let the aloe ice cube melt and add a teaspoon of honey. If you have dry hair add a teaspoon of olive oil or coconut oil in the mix. Mix and use directly on your hair. Leave for 20 minutes and then wash with your shampoo. Then come back to this post and thank me. You are welcome :)
Have you used Aloe Vera? Do you have any Aloe plants in your house? They are also excellent air purifiers did you know?
