Leiann's Essential Oil Blog
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...
LabdanumĀ EssentialĀ 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...
November Gardening Tips. (Part - 1) Gardening the easy way
As we move into the winter season, in the northern hemisphere, we can now take a breather and give some serious thought as to where we want to take this gardening thing and what our goals might be. As I have mentioned in past discussions, I am not presenting ideas here that are just wild theories. Each and every idea or so-called theory have been time tested and applied. They are all proven ideas and therefore not theories. I am taking some of these fantastic ideas and helping you to apply them to your gardening ideas. I have presented several different practices that will help you a great deal in producing better and higher quality gardens. One of the greatest drawbacks to most any gardening project is that to get started it takes a lot of work and at times a lot of money. The joke out there is it ends up costing a person 5 dollars for a small tomato. A single carrot might end up costing 5 dollars as well. Some people work so hard as they come out of the...
Cinnamon EO and the Mineral Nickel
Question;
Is it possible for essential oils, primarily cinnamon, to contain nickel?
Answer:
OK, here goes. Do you want the simple one first? Yes, it can.
As with any plant if it is in the soil then it will likely be in the plant. Since Nickel is way under the 300 magic number of weight, then it would come over. You won't likely find the Nickel coming up in a GC/MS report. #1- they don't test for it and #2- the scan isn't sensitive to pick it up as a general rule, even if they were watching for it.
Now the longer part; There is a lot of research out there with respect to animal applications and very little with human applications. But some things are known, one is that the combination of the Nickel with Cinnamon tends to be absorbed in the large intestine. This is one of the very few EO's that can be utilized by oral administration effectively. Now don't go out there and drink Cinnamon EO, it doesn't quite work that way. I...
This is a Q and A concerning a product that was observed being sold by another company out there. It contained CBD oil, Essential Oils, and Extracts. There was also a screenshot of the contents of that formula
Question;
I just saw a discussion about a new product being advertised as having certain essential oils as nutritional drivers for a CBD product. I did a quick search and couldn't find information on a nutritional driver. Would Clary Sage helping the body absorb calcium be considered a nutritional driver?
Answer;
Let's set a foundation. A Driver, as it applies to this type of discussion is the primary functioning component. The Nutritional part is just a qualification of the type of purpose the driver is serving. So as to the above idea. CBD is the Driver and the Nutritional part is telling of its purpose and where the product is going. Everything else in there is just support staff if you will, and support for the driver. In these types of blends, they usually use a lot of extracts, in addition to the essential oils. This serves as a stabilizing effect to the whole. Plus it helps in a more broad spread effect. Overall, they have used a driving product and...
