Aloe Vera Ladies I need your help!

[AnnaMarie]

My DH came home from work today with a wonderful surprise for me!
About 8 huge Aloe Vera Plants to put in the garden, hurray!
So we've got the bases soaking in water to encourage some roots but some of the "leaves" came off and now I have a whole pile to use right now. (check out my photos if you want to see how much I got!)
So I was wondering would I be better to "milk" all the leaves now and keep the goo stored in a container in the fridge or should I just do some of them and keep the rest of the "leaves" whole to "milk" later?
Also what do you find the best way to use the goo?
He also brought home a big rosemary, some succulants and a big thyme plant also, he did so well :cheer:
Many thanks
Anna

[burns_erin]

Raw aloe does not keep very well. IME it is best, for already broken off leaves, to go ahead and milkthem and store them in the fridge.

For what I like to do with it. Well, I like to mix mine up with some glycerin to use in my hair.

It goes pretty okay as a smoothie additive and is supposed to be really healthy.

Alot of people use it on their skin. Common topical uses include acne, sunburn, frostbite (it appears to prevent decreased blood flow), shingles, screening out x-ray radiation, psoriasis, preventing scarring, rosacea, warts, wrinkles from aging, and eczema. I have even used it on the callouses on my feet and it was moderately successful. How much of this is true I can not really say though.

Here is a link to the MayoClinic website to show how the research for aloe stacks up.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/aloe-vera/NS_patient-aloe

[AnnaMarie]

Thanks for that burns_erin, what ratio do you use aloe:glycerin?
:)

[burns_erin]

Thanks for that burns_erin, what ratio do you use aloe:glycerin?
:)

I am horrible about measuring, but usually they are about even in amounts. I just want to get it to where it is a nice smooth consistency. If ou have ever broken up aloe, you know some are thicker than others.

[Sissy]

I don't have any suggestions for using it but you are certainly lucky to have those treats brought home!

[AnnaMarie]

Thanks, yeah I squished some up this morning, boy I really wish I had a juicer though, would make things alot easier lol. I also put some in my hair this morning. My hair was dry and I dipped the ends in the juice till they were wet then I smoothed some over the rest of my hair. 5hrs later my hair is really soft, smooth and shiny and definately no crunchy ends. It feels like there is a bit of a "coating" on my hair but not in a bad way like silicone feels. My hair has been really tangle prone of late but now feels alot easier to de-tangle I feel like its helped give my hair some slip again. So far so good! :D

[AnnaMarie]

Hi Sissy sorry I missed seeing your post! I was so happy with my surprises he brought me home, sure beats a bunch of flowers or some chocolates lol

[burns_erin]

You know, you can also use real aloe in an SMT. I did not think of it at first because I typically don't do them, but there you go.

Glad you are enjoying your plants, and your hair with the aloe.

I find the easiest way to get the stuff out it to take a paring knife to one side so I can peel it open and lay it flat. Then I use a soup spoon to scrape everything off.

[lora410]

oh perfect for SMT. I use 1/4 cup fav condish, 2tbsp Honey, and 2Tblsp aloe. I use it on dry or wet and get AMAZING RESULTS

[burns_erin]

oh perfect for SMT. I use 1/4 cup fav condish, 2tbsp Honey, and 2Tblsp aloe. I use it on dry or wet and get AMAZING RESULTS

Yes, an SMT is quite effecient with fresh aloe, they are just TOO much for me with this humidity.

[Anje]

I wonder if you could milk them and freeze most of it. Anyone know if you can freeze fresh aloe gook?

[oldgregg]

Sounds great!

[burns_erin]

I wonder if you could milk them and freeze most of it. Anyone know if you can freeze fresh aloe gook?

From personal experience, yes, you can freeze it, however, it does change the texture, and mine got weird after a couple of months when I defrosted it. That being said, there are several different species (I think it is species that is the lowest right? genus then species) that we refer to as aloe and use all the same way, however they are all slightly different so YMMV.

[AnnaMarie]

Thats a great idea scooping it out with a spoon, much more affective than my crush with my hand method lol. I tried an SMT but it didn't turn out so good :(. I think I may have got my measurements slightly wrong so I'm going to try again another day. I'm def going to try freezing some juice to see how it turns out.