Essential Oils in Gardening

Gardening--it calls to my heart more each year.   But I don't want to use poisons on it, and that used to mean that my garden didn't do very well.  But I've gone organic, and it's doing better, and this year I discovered in a video that

Peppermint 

can  be a huge help in the garden!!  I'm so excited, and have already  begun to try it  as I've planted my tomatoes.

I saw the video on DoTERRA Pro but didn't see any links to post it on my blog or face book page, so I will do a write-up here. 

Video Write-up: 

In the video a lady named Connie Boucher, who is an expert at using essential oils in the garden, gives advise on gardening.  She had been gardening with essential oils for 18 or 19 years.  Here are some main ideas in the video:

• Peppermint  in water in a spray bottle will  take care of a large percentage of garden pests, misting the plants lightly.
•  DoTERRA is the brand of Essential Oils she uses now, because, while other brands worked, she found that they left a "sticky, filmy residue; with DoTERRA I don't have that."
• A good "General Good For Everything Spray" is 
•  8 oz. spray  bottle with water
• 18 drops of peppermint
• 2 drops of white fir   
• Use more or less oils as needed  

•  She starts  by spraying essential oils in the hole or furrow where she is planting.  Then she sprays the actual plant.
• An interviewer commented that she personally used one drop of oil per one ounce of water as a general rule.
• As a general rule, she uses Peppermint first; if that doesn't do it she uses thyme (in a different spray  bottle); if that doesn't do it, she will try cinnamon, clove, cassia, or On Guard.
• You can also mist your fruit trees, but not with the expectation that it will kill all the worms.  Oils will cut back a large number of worms, but she said that worms are a natural thing, and you can cut around them--it's 'better than  putting poisons on your tree.'
• When she cuts off a branch, she sprays the cut part with oils.
• Connie Boucher sends her grandkids out with a peppermint spray bottle to spray ants, with no fear of poisoning.

I am so excited to use essential oils in my garden this year, and I'm sure I will share the results with you!!!!

Peppermint In My Pocket

The Story of the Day I Carried This Little Bottle With Me:

Peppermint is WAY useful!!!  Besides just smelling great and being useful in foods for flavoring, it can do A LOT of other things.  Here is the story of the day we visited a farm.

There is one week a year in the spring that I sneeze my head off due to seasonal allergies.  Sometimes I resort to  antihistamines, but usually I just suffer through because I am a mom and I am already drowsy enough, thank you very much!!  Even the ones that are not supposed to make you drowsy. ..well not so much with me.

So we were going to a farm  in this very sneezy week, so I took this little bottle of peppermint.  Why?  Because I've found that putting a little just inside my nose takes care of the itchiness and sneezing for several hours --no drowsiness!!!  I am so excited!!!!  (Since then I have decided to put a drop on a cotton ball and breathe it in through my nose,  because I believe it is the diffusion of it into my sinuses that calms my sneezing.)

USE # 1: It calms my  seasonal allergies!

Also, I woke up with a headache.  I applied some to my temples (not too close to my eyes) and across my forehead.   (In general if that doesn't stop my headache, I put a little on the back of my neck.)

USE # 2: It stopped my headache without the use of my usual pain killers!

This was more than enough to convince me that taking my peppermint to the farm was a good thing, but then another, unexpected use came up.  As we were enjoying some time that evening with some family members, my son came to me complaining of itchy legs.  (He has eczema, so his skin is frequently itchy.)  I put a little water in my hand to dilute it (it is recommended to dilute it for children and sensitive skin, but usually with a carrier oil) and put a little in the water.  I rubbed my hands together and applied it to his legs.  Within five minutes, his legs were no longer itchy.

USE # 3: It stopped the itching of my son's legs!

I LOVE MY PEPPERMINT!! 

Post post note! ;)  I now use the cotton/peppermint idea for allergies. If I breathe it in too fast, it can be irritating to the inside of the nose and sinuses, so I breathe slowly and deeply.  I've found that a few drops on cotton, even allowed to dry,  works wonders when breathing it into sinuses.  I carry my little cotton in a ziplock snack baggie in my pocket all day long and use it when needed. :)  )

YET ANOTHER POST NOTE (new year, new note!): Honestly, I felt silly breathing cotton, so now I use peppermint beadlets, which I let dissolve at the back of my throat and then breathe deeply through my nose to infuse the peppermint into my sinuses.  It works almost as well as sticking peppermint just inside my nose and breathing deeply, but I feel silly doing that, too, and then have to wash my hands...  Also, just putting peppermint into a diffuser works great!

*My reference book Modern Essentials Usage Guide cautions that peppermint possibly should be avoided with high blood pressure, and that oils containing a high proportion of phenols should be diluted and/or used only for short periods of time.