Leiann's Essential Oil Blog
Minerals and Some Interesting Perspectives. Part 1
Many times we hear some reference to minerals. In fact, my kids are getting to the point of being sick and tired of hearing me say, when they say, oh we are sick... I say, oh that is just a yadda yadda mineral deficiency. Take some.... and you will see some improvements. So in this discussion, we will see a few perspectives. I will do several parts to this one as to do it in the one setting would not do it justice.
In this discussion, we will focus on and around Yttrium. I take it that you haven't heard much about this one. But it does not stand alone, as with all other minerals. They work together and in concert with several others. Another factor is stuff like Amino Acids, Proteins, and vitamins, just to name a few, as they are all just based on formulations of minerals. Well, for the most part, as other factors that are not minerals, factor in as well, such as photosynthesis. We can talk about that some other time. Now, Yttrium; Yttrium is not a mineral that you can...
December Gardening Tips.
One would not think that we would be talking about gardening here in the northern hemisphere. But we are and the topic is centered around seeds and the selections of seeds for your garden for the upcoming season.
The main point of seed selection is first to determine just what you want to grow. What types of products have a tendency to grow in your area with ease and what produce you will actually use! Many times it is easy to grow things that you aren't likely to use, yet, those that you would likely use, many times are the hardest to grow. Weird I know, but that is the truth many times. A lot of times when we make the seed selection, we just select all willy nilly and have no rhyme or reason to our selections and choices. So for a better focus, let us talk about how to focus better. Perhaps picking a theme will be more to your liking. For example, do you like salsa? OK, if so then let us take that as a theme. With this theme in mind, you would make a list...
The 300 molecular weight of molecules and Steam Distillation.
Hi Everyone,
Over the recent past time frame, a very interesting aspect of essential oil quality has come my way. A guy I know that is an EO supplier asked me a question about some insecticides that came up in a special analysis that he had run on some oil that he supplies to a specialized manufacturer. Please keep in mind that a GC/MS DOES NOT typically scan for such items. He had to send it to a specialized lab to have it run. He did not specifically say why he had to run a scan, but I put two and two together and it must have been for a large volume-specific customer that requested it. Anyway, I am not at liberty to discuss a whole lot about the situation other than some general specifics. He contacted me because he knew that I was involved in agriculture and the chemicals were chemicals that are typically used in agricultural settings, for the most part. He wanted me to help him understand the chemicals and maybe he could understand why they are there and how...
Interesting Topic. GMO Alfalfa.
Today I heard something interesting. This would be classified as Glysophate related.
Our local county agent was doing his monthly show on the radio. He covered several topics. One topic was that they have been doing some studies, and similar studies have been done across a number of states on this issue. What the deal is that they have observed that when it comes to Roundup Ready Alfalfa, that if the plant is at least 2 inches tall in the spring when the crop is sprayed with Glysphate, aka; Roundup, and then the crop is hit with a frost, he didn't define as to the severity of the frost, so we are to assume a frost, then the alfalfa will not recover during its first crop of the season. The yield of the 1st. crop will be down by at least 1 ton per acre, to 1 1/2 tons per acre. Subsequence crops are not affected. This amount of yield is roughly 1/2 of the total average production of the year for most alfalfa production. Usually the 1st. crop is the most productive crop of the...
Copaiba Essential Oil. R & D Program Oil.
Copaiba, Copaifera langsdorffii. Desf., Copaifera officinalis L.
Copaiba essential oil is an oil that is quickly moving up the scale of becoming a very popular and widely used essential oil. The origination of this oil is from a resin obtained from the Copaiba tree. For the most part, this oil is sourced from the Amazon jungle. Although the tree is found outside of the jungle environment, it doesn't do well outside of that jungle setting. This is an oil that is truly an Organic, Wildcrafted oil. Although the trees have been experimentally grown in a farmed setting, those trees do not produce enough oil and what is produced is of low quality, that pretty much all of it comes from the Amazon. The Latin name of this oil is at times listed as Copaifera langsdorffii. While at other times it is listed as Copaifera officinalis. So don't get confused, many times people just copy and paste from someone that doesn't really know, but thinks they do and then after it is...
Labdanum Essential Oil.
Labdanum (Cistus ladanifer).
Labdanum is known by several names. You might see the name of Rock Rose. This is another name that the oil is known by. But by and large, the more common name is Labdanum in most circles. The plant that this oil comes from is found mostly in the Mediterranean region of the world. The plant variety found in the western region is known by the Latin name of Cistus ladanifer and the plant variety found in the eastern region is known by the Latin name of Cistus creticus. For the most part, for purposes of this discussion, there is not a lot of difference between the two species, except that the western region plant has white flowers and the eastern species has pink flowers. Just keep in mind that we are focusing on the western region species and when in the original plant form it is referred to as Rock Rose in general terms.
From a historical perspective, the resin was collected from the plant and used for a variety of medicinal purposes. The primary...
Labdanum is known by several names. You might see the name of Rock Rose. This is another name that the oil is known by. But by and large, the more common name is Labdanum in most circles. The plant that this oil comes from is found mostly in the Mediterranean region of the world. The plant variety found in the western region is known by the Latin name of Cistus ladanifer and the plant variety found in the eastern region is known by the Latin name of Cistus creticus. For the most part, for purposes of this discussion, there is not a lot of difference between the two species, except that the western region plant has white flowers and the eastern species has pink flowers. Just keep in mind that we are focusing on the western region species and when in the original plant form it is referred to as Rock Rose in general terms.
From a historical perspective, the resin was collected from the plant and used for a variety of medicinal purposes. The primary...
Petitgrain Essential Oil.
Petitgrain, Citrus aurantium ssp. amara
Petitgrain essential oil is obtained from several varieties of citrus trees. Whenever the Petitgrain is listed as the type of essential oil, the variety has to be noted. This oil can come from Lemon trees, Orange trees, and the various citrus types within these species. But the vast majority of Petitgrain oil comes from the Bitter Orange tree and most of the higher quality Petitgrain will be referred to as Petitgrain, Bigarade. In this discussion, we will be referring to the Bigarade type of Petitgrain oil and will hereafter be referenced simply as Petitgrain. This is the type you received in the R & D program. The Petitgrain EO is distilled from the leaves and small twigs of the Bitter Orange tree. Other oils that come from this tree are Neroli, which is obtained from steam distilling the blossoms and the Bitter Orange oil which is cold-pressed or expeller-pressed from the peel of the fruit. The...
Minerals, Essential Oils and Plants.
Today's topic is centered around the makeup of essential oils. I want to present this in a way that the average person can get their head around. So here goes.
As some of you may know, I have been doing a series related to minerals and essential oils. I know many people do not know that EO's have minerals in them. Many people lampoon the very idea. So what gives. Here goes, All EO's contains minerals. How is that? What people have trouble getting their heads around is that the minerals are the very base of all life forms. Carbon is at the center of all of them.
Many people will DEMAND the GC/MS of the oils and use that as proof of quality. That is OK, but if they leave it at that point, I just roll my eyes and marginalize them. Why? Because that is only a partial aspect of the whole. It indicates that they don't understand what they are asking for. As I have said time and time again, the GC/MS is only a snapshot of that particular sample,...
November Gardening Tips, Part 3.
Well, I am back, I did say that there would be several in November, but alas, this is the final one for November. This one is sort of for the advanced gardeners. But many novices might be able to glean some good ideas to apply or to use as a goal to work towards. So let's go...
In working with the various gardening ideas, we are looking at several points that are of interest to people nowadays. One is water conservation. Another one is how do you take advantage of adding nutrients to the growing medium and even the growing medium itself. Yet another one is the politically correct one, but in reality, a very good idea aside form the politically correct propagandists is Carbon sequestration. This is actually a vitally important fertilizer and the only cost is to maybe, just alter how you do things, usually just a tiny bit. In reality, many of the things we talk about doing here are just altering many of the good practices that you already are trying to...
In working with the various gardening ideas, we are looking at several points that are of interest to people nowadays. One is water conservation. Another one is how do you take advantage of adding nutrients to the growing medium and even the growing medium itself. Yet another one is the politically correct one, but in reality, a very good idea aside form the politically correct propagandists is Carbon sequestration. This is actually a vitally important fertilizer and the only cost is to maybe, just alter how you do things, usually just a tiny bit. In reality, many of the things we talk about doing here are just altering many of the good practices that you already are trying to...
November Gardening Tips- #2
As we look into the ongoing educational aspect of new ideas and maybe better ways of making your gardening experience a much more delightful experience, we will look at resources as the primary aspect of this discussion. Some new aspects will be introduced as well.
In the past discussion, I introduced the idea of straw bale gardening. This is an idea that works very good for a number of people. The name might be somewhat misleading as it is not limited to only bales made of straw. Straw from grain is usually a desirable medium of choice. But in some parts of the world and even in this country a small bale of straw is not available. In some parts of the world, they will use rice straw. This works very well. Some people will make a simple compactor and press leaves together and wrap strings around them and just like that they have their blae growing medium. One can use almost any kind of fibrous type of easily bio-degradable plant material. However, some of...
