Fruit is in full bloom, sweet, juicy, watery, cool and yummy. These foods are ripe and it's time for them to be consumed; grapes, strawberries, blueberries, mulberries, raspberries, cherries and berries of all types. Melons, pears, apples, peaches and all of the juicy foods that run down your chin as you eat them. These foods are cooling, so they can counter the excess heat without freezing the digestion. Watermelon is especially good at warding off summer-heat. Not only can you eat the yummy red center, but you can also boil the rind when you're done and make a tea. Let the tea cool and slightly sweeten and you have an excellent herbal decoction to ward off summer-heat.
 

For simple redness of the skin or slight papular eruptions you can use the watermelon tea as a wash on the skin. Other foods that can be used in decoction for a wash are mango skin, sour plums, coconut hulls, papayas and raspberries. Of course do not choose a substance if you are allergic to it. To make the decoction use about 250 grams of any of the foods listed, put in water, cook for 20 minutes, remove the dregs and after suitable cooling wash the affected area with the liquid for 5-10 minutes, 2-3 times a day.
 

An alternate remedy uses coconut hulls. Prepare five coconuts as described above and decoct in 3-4 liters of water until the liquid is concentrated into a gel. Remove the dregs and transfer the gel into a glass container. Apply the gel to the affected area 2-3 times daily.
 

For bee and wasp stings, you can extract the milky fluid from dandelions and rub on the lesion 3-5 times daily; also, you can wet some tobacco, make a paste, and apply that to the sting; Vinegar for mosquitoes; mix ginger and pepper for spider bites.
 

Phranque Wright is a Licensed Acupuncturist located at Dong-Ye Acupuncture with offices in Palm Bay and Cocoa. For more information and additional home remedies call 321-723-3017.