holy aloe
I got this aloe plant for medicinal purposes, since aloe gel is a wonderful moisturizer and a great first aid balm for minor scrapes and burns.
At first I couldn’t bring myself to harvest any of its tiny leaves, I thought it needed all of its foliage to adjust to the new location and stabilize what looked like a very unsure bearing, easily uprooted.
It tripled over a couple of years, and now it’s growing so strong I can’t believe it is the same plant. I still hesitate to harvest its leaves, I don’t want to upset its balance. Soon I’ll probably have too, just after I repot it into a much larger container, it is getting too big and heavy for the one it’s in already!
If you never used unprocessed aloe vera before, it is nothing like the smooth gel at the supermarket, the one that comes in a bottle and has been homogenized and thinned a little to improve its texture. Raw aloe vera gel is clumpy, slimy and stringy, and it sticks to your hands in a way that is not altogether pleasant, but once mixed into an ointment it is pure health in a jar: it smoothes roughness, hydrates, heals minor ailments, cools sunburn, balances combination skin, tightens and imparts a dewy glow to any complexion.
Aloe vera is as good for your insides as it is for your skin, but between the stringy, mucilaginous consistency, the sharp bitterness, and its laxative effects, I’m probably going to pass on that. It offers great benefits for your health, though, if you are willing to get past the fact that it’s really unpalatable: it is chock full of vitamins, helps clean your liver, like any bitter, restores your electrolyte balance, hydrates and alleviates small irritations inside your digestive tract.
I wonder how big it is going to get?
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