I usually don’t post shop listings on the blog and make an effort to keep the sales pitch to a bare minimum here. However, there is a lot of important information in this particular shop listing and I don’t want to write it all again for the blog. Not so much lazy as I seem […]
I have Civet farmers and exporters ready to move forward with this project. What we need now is participation from the West to take it to the next level.
Though all essential oils have therapeutic properties, you will not harness the full therapeutic potential of Frankincense unless you work with the whole oleo gum resin or the oleoresin portion.
The act is completed with a kiss of fingers as the flower is pressed firmly to ensure full contact and fertilization. Flowers must be pollinated within 12 hours of opening so there is an underlying sense of urgency to the act.
Gratitude to Christianne L’Esperance for shooting, editing and posting this video. It shows how easy it is to distill essential oils at home. In it I share some of the basic principles, terminology, dos and don’ts, easy to access parts and where to get them. Though by no means a step by step walk through, I […]
Many have asked for clearer instructions on the method I use for separating the resin with its Boswellic acids from Frankincense in the post “Tapping into Frankincense and its Boswellic acids. An easy extraction method”. I realize written descriptions leave a lot of room for interpretation and a video would be the best method of […]
With only a day left in Africa, I feel I need to offer a brief overview of my latest aromatic trip just to keep everyone abreast. Once back in Canada I will write in detail about this last trip to Madagascar and Kenya. So much has happened during these past three weeks and so many things […]
Besides exploring the rich array of aromatics in Madagascar, meeting farmers, harvesters and exporters, my host and I hope to build a small distillation unit with the goal of training local artisans to produce high quality essential oils and direct more of our Western dollars to their communities.
For those who will be in South Central Ontario this weekend As promised, I will teach a distillation workshop this Saturday in the Apothecary’s Garden at the Teaching gardens in Churchill Park Hamilton. It will be part of the Hamilton Herbal Weekend. Short notice, but it will keep you limber. You will learn How to distill essential oils […]
I have been offered the opportunity to spend two weeks working in Madagascar this October. Short notice and an unexpected expense, but full of potential. I will stay with Vanilla farmers, distill an unusual Elemi, and look at creating value added products and direct sales that will benefit harvesters, farmers, and their communities. If I can get myself there.
Artisan essential oil distillers make up an underground and grassroots movement that we have invoked, called into being, with our need for transparency, quality, ethics and sustainable practices in our essential oil market.
The appearance of new medicine, mostly sourced from traditional ethnic pharmacopoeia, is driven by profit and not transparency. This has led to some inaccuracies and bits of misinformation that are conveniently geared to sell certain products. I will try to correct some of them here.
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