Hello again everyone!

Hope you all had a great weekend. Lets get into this final part of my 4 part series.

In part 1, I mentioned how I used forest soil with disastrous results.  This is because the soil was not yet conditioned for the crops that I was growing.  How many of you have looked at "soil" at the store, saw this black gunk and thought,"Ah, good soil."  Anyone?  Most of that soil is made with or has a base of wood.  Bad news.  Why?  Because it is not properly digested for use on the plants that you are growing.

Here is the basic cycle of nature: when you have some soil that has been abused in some form, has no plants growing, etc., and nature takes its first step, what does nature begin to grow?  Weeds, and woody shrubs.  Weeds help in ground cover and to promote an atmosphere where soil bugs can grow.  The woody shrubs are there to develop and start the soil healing in these acidic soils.

In short, the acidic soil, is...

Hi Everyone,

With this part I would like to take a slightly different approach than I did in part one and two.  So maybe it will be more reader friendlier with some applicable ideas.

There are a lot of myths out there, some are right and some are questionable. But what is interesting is when they are both right and wrong, the difference is when they are applied, making them right or wrong.   The first myth I would like to discuss is "high elevation is better, low elevation is bad for quality of the plant or the food it produces".

Here goes, as plants grow in the higher elevation they have a shorter growing season, so when considered over many years you end up having a low of crow cycles rotations as compared to lower elevations.  Lets use these figures, as these are figures that I know for a fact to be pretty accurate.  At the 6500 ft. to 7000 ft. elevation a person might be lucky on a year in and year out comparison have about a 75 to 80 growing cycle....

Welcome back everyone,

This is the second part from last weeks blog post. So without further ado, lets get back into it.

Albrecht discusses the need for the plant to grow its own organic material. Now I want you to think long and hard on this subject, that being what he says, that crops must grow their own soil organic matter.  Now this part and the concepts here really threw me for a loop.  The one most important concept that has been drilled into my head as a farmer is this, crop rotation.  Why?  You have to rotate in order to prevent disease and to rebuild the soil.  Here Albrecht shows why that is a wrong concept.  But why?  In brief, when we clear cut the land, we take everything.

In nature/the natural setting this is not done. The crop that is left dies down and mulches naturally back into the soil. The plant has adapted and built up its own immune system and the old and dying plant returns that to the soil and thus prevents the diseases from...

Hi Everyone,

Quite a few months ago I talked about discussing the materials in a book that I had read called Soil Fertility and Animal Health by Dr. William Albrecht.  I really struggled with trying to convey some of the information from that book because if I did then I would just end up with an email that was about the same size as the book. The material is THAT interesting!  So how do you share so much stuff without just telling the whole thing?

As time passed I ran across another book called Soil, Grass and Cancer by Andre Voisin.  Both books can be purchased from Amazon for around 20 bucks each, which would be well worth the money spent if you choose to buy one or both.  After I read the Voisin book, then I finally felt that I could attempt to share some of the material as Voisin's book says pretty much the same material, but in a more simple form. Albrecht's book gives you a whole lot of technical charts, graphs and a lot of agronomic specific...

(Editor’s note: In part one of this series (link) Kent professed his love for milk, introduced us to some cows and (cue the scary music) the GMO connection. In part two (link), Kent detailed the case study of his friend’s dairy, GMO hay and similar reactions between cows and humans. Kent also introduced (cue the mysterious music) the depletion of important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc. In part three, we dove into the GMO geopolitical waters. Here in part four, we circle back through the farm to essential oils.)

Hi, everyone,

In this part I promised that I would talk about corn and soybeans, two very widely used base food "stuffs" and the two most planted and harvested crops in the United States by volume and acreage.

The ingredients derived from these two crops are used in almost every and any processed food product. These crops are no different than alfalfa in being subjected to industrial farming practices. In fact more of these...

(Editor’s note: In part one of this series (link) Kent professed his love for milk, introduced us to some cows and (cue the scary music) the GMO connection. In part two (link), Kent detailed the case study of his friend’s dairy, GMO hay and similar reactions between cows and humans. Kent also introduced (cue the mysterious music) the depletion of important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc. Here in part three, we dive into the GMO geopolitical waters. In part four, we circle back to essential oils.)

Hi, everyone,

Why is it important for us to understand the role of some of these herbicides in our diet? This discussion looks at the milk part of the diet. Milk products are used in many foods and food preparations. Since we have given some examples of how it interacts with other mammals, it would stand to reason that we as the human version of a mammal would not fare differently.

One of the big problems is that these herbicides bind...

(Editor’s note: In part one of this series, Kent professed his love for milk, introduced us to some lovely dairy farm ladies (cows) including the queens of the milkers, the Holsteins and (cue the scary music) the GMO connection.) 

Hey everyone,

From this point on I am going to talk about a case study that I have been involved in. We will address other aspects of this later on and tie in the nutrition and essential oils and their role in all of this.

I have a friend who has a dairy, produces very high quality milk and actually cares about the welfare of his cows even down to an individual cow basis. This dairy runs about 65 twice a day through the barn.

My friend had to purchase a little extra hay last year to make it through the season. He bought a few semi loads from another friend of mine that farms just up the road from where I live. By all rights, this hay farmer is a very good farmer. But he plants Roundup Ready alfalfa. Then comes my friend that has the small dairy....

Hi, everyone,

Most people like milk and milk products. I for one am totally addicted to milk, good fresh, cold cow milk. I can handle goat milk if it is Sanaan goat milk. Those are the big white ones, and only if they are fed correctly. But cow's milk, most breeds are fine for me.

However, some people cannot tolerate milk from certain breeds. At least that is what the thought is in some circles. In other circles, they say they can't handle milk unless it is lactose free. We are going to attempt to get to the bottom of this issue and deal with it.

The problem is basically two-fold. One is the issue with certain breeds of cows that have a mutation in their gut that directly affects some people's ability to digest milk. Now that is strange, isn't it? Basically a gut problem in one mammal that directly affects the gut in another mammal and the only common link is the milk. The breed that has the mutation is the Holstein. That breed is the most typical on American dairies or, more...

It is about time I get the rough idea out there about these 2 new blends that we get the information out there and ahead their introduction.

Let me lay some ground work first. We have been looking at several aspects of the emotional side of this whole aromatherapy arena. For the most part most aromatherapy programs and the offerings presented by most companies center around replacing your doctor and working mostly on physical issues. The replacing your doctor is a rational idea in some aspects but In our day and age, in this country, that might be even a little more important since the Affordable Health Care act is quickly becoming anything but affordable for most people. Of course the government agencies are really coming down on people creating and selling essential oils. In some aspects this is rational but also irrational. Irrational because many times people with good intentions try to work beyond their ability, training, education and qualifications. Many times this can be...

One aspect of aromatherapy that fascinates me is the link to memory. You sniff an essential oil and instantly your mind is transported back to something you haven’t thought about for decades.

That’s what Cinnamon essential oil does for me. But I am very careful to sniff from the cap, not the bottle, because it is a hot oil. It’s not hot in that it could burn you, but hot essential oils are very irritating to the skin and mucous membranes. Cinnamon, as well as Clove Bud, Oregano and Thyme Thymol, are among the hot essential oils that must be diluted substantially before use.

I fondly remember the scent of cinnamon in the cider simmering on the stove to warm my winter evening. It wafted from the treats in the oven. No wonder Cinnamon essential oil is known for aiding and balancing digestion, especially blood sugar issues. It even helps relieve those uncomfortable issues known as diarrhea and intestinal gas pain.

While we’re talking organs, Cinnamon essential...