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.

Acne and Oils

A recent experience we had with oils was  with acne with a young friend.  Again, we looked up in a guide what might work for acne.  We used all three recommended oils in a roller bottle with water.

Recommended in my A-Z guide were Melaleuca, Lavender, and Lemon grass.  I put 5 drops of each in the roller bottle with water.  It was a little strong, so we decided in the future to use much less lemon grass, or remove lemon grass all together.

My young subject was instantly very excited when it was realized that the pores were smaller immediately after application!

It was used it for 5 days two or three times daily for this experiment, and here are the before and after pictures:

We are extremely encouraged with the results!!  We will continue use!!

Itchy legs!!!

My husband and I have a weird thing happen sometimes--our shins itch for a few days at the same time.  Apparently allergy related, this happened a few weeks ago.  So I looked up in my little guide what is good for itchiness.  Listed were PEPPERMINT OIL and LAVENDER OIL.

So that night I tried both.  I rubbed lavender on my right let and peppermint on the left.  The lavender seemed to work faster, but within 5 minutes both had worked.    

It worked!  Hopefully I won't have itchy legs very often,  but when I do, I know how to fix it!

Essential Oils + Culinary Endeavors = YUM!!

 My husband is a chef.  He's actually a computer administrator, but I'd give him an honorary degree for his food knowledge.  He cooks like nobody's business.  So in our house, consequently, we enjoy lots of great food, and embark on many culinary endeavors.

So imagine my *great joy* when I found out that most essential oils (I would personally only use doTERRA oils for their extensive testing to make sure the oils are all the same and absolutely pure) can be taken internally and MANY CAN BE USED IN FOOD!!

So here are some things I've tried:

WILD ORANGE FUDGE:

I added 5 drops of Wild Orange to a fudge recipe.  The result: heaven in an orange-tasting chocolate!!!!

Then I tried:

PEPPERMINT BROWNIES:

 

This was a zucchini  brownie recipe we love, and all I did was add 3 drops of peppermint to the frosting.  That was all I needed to do to turn this into a delicious peppermint treat!!

And my new:

LEMONADE RECIPE: 

 

2 CUPS COLD WATER

1/4 TEASPOON CITRIC ACID

1 TABLESPOON SUGAR

2 DROPS doTERRA LEMON OIL

The result: Yummy lemonade goodness, with all the benefits of lemon oil!!  I'd go into the benefits, but I must run for now.

PS: Citric Acid is a canning ingredient, available where canning supplies are sold. (See picture)

I have so much to share and so little time to do it!!!  The life of a mom, right?? ;)  Until next time...

  

The Scent Mostly Likely to Sell Your House More Quickly and For More Money IS...

I was listening to the radio in the car one morning (K-Love) and the DJs started talking about a real estate study done in which it was determined which scent present in a house at the time of viewing was likely to sell the house more quickly, and for more money.

They took turns guessing, and all were incorrect.  After the commercial break, they revealed the answer:

LEMON

I was super excited that this is a product I sell through doTERRA!!  More than that, I am finding that the virtues of lemon are many, in health and cleaning, weight loss and reducing cravings...the list is long!!!  And many other posts!  I am getting so attached to lemon, and it is one of the least expensive things doTERRA sells.

I see lots of LEMON in my future!!

See you next post!! 

 

 

Why Essential Oils? Why doTERRA?

Just a short introduction to my WHYs of Essential Oils.

Why Essential Oils?
A few months ago I had not even heard of them, and now I sell them and will have them always in my home.  Why this drastic change?  Because I have tried some and they really do work and improve my health and the health of my family.  Simple as that.

 I am a very analytical person.  I have tried to approach my assessment of Oils in the most objective way.  I was even skeptical at first.  I will be sharing some of my findings and thoughts here on this blog.  I hope you will see why  I am so excited about them and I hope you will get excited, too!



Why doTERRA?

Purity, consistency, and quality:






That's all for today.  Hope you'll join me on my journey!