Friday, March 02, 2007

Using Essential Oils for Natural Gardening


Every year we produce and use larger amounts of the most unhealthy toxic chemicals on our food crops and soil. Some of these deadly substances will remain in our food chain for hundreds of years. Our precious soil as well as our water and air become more and more contaminated each day. Our bodies not being able to cope with the assault of these poisons, cry out for help as the break down with physical and mental disorders.

Many of the pesticides, herbicides and other toxic chemical compounds in use today were developed during World War II by scientists seeking to create the most lethal poisons to annihilate opposing military forces. These harmful substances interfere with vital body processes by destroying enzymes, blocking oxidation, restricting the functions of various organs and initiate cellular changes and mutations that can lead to malignancies.

The September 14, 1992 issue of U.S. News and World Report Magazine reported:

"In the past four decades, as the use of pesticides rose thirty fold to nearly a billion pounds annually, more and more insects have adapted to fight the poisons.... [insect] species resistant to insecticides [in] 1948 [were] 8, [and in] 1989 [were] 504."

The late Robert Rodale who was chairman of the Rodale Press and the foremost authority on organic gardening wrote the book "Save Three Lives" which talks about a plan for sustainable agriculture through simple, non-toxic, natural methods. He writes: "Our work at the Rodale Research Center has proven the merits of a technique known to many gardeners for generations: Interplanting food crops with certain (often aromatic) plants repel damaging insects and thus protects the crops.

In some cases the odor of the essential oil from the repellent plant does actually repel insects that would otherwise feast on the food crop. In some other cases, however, the repellent plant simply masks the odor of food crops nearby, and the insect cannot locate the food by smell. If repellent plants were used on a massive - enough scale, there's every reason to believe that many insects would be unable to find food and would die hungry. The numbers of many pest species could be greatly reduced."

Insect problems can be handled in a non-toxic way using essential oils. Select one of the formulas. Combine the ingredients in a fine mist spray bottle, shake well and mist the plant. Use as minimal amount as possible, more is "not" better. Several applications may be necessary a few days apart.

Lavender............40 drops
Sage...................40 drops
Water................. 8 ounces

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Coriander.............30 drops
Cinnamon leaf......30 drops
Citronella.............20 drops
Water.................. 8 ounces

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Sage................... 65 drops
Chamomile......... 15 drops
Water.................. 8 ounces

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Sage.................... 40 drops
Cajeput................ 25 drops
Cedarwood........... 15 drops
Water................... 8 ounces

The Native American people respected nature and held the land sacred. When they were faced with making decisions on important matters they would first take into consideration how the outcome would effect the well-being of future generations who would inhabit the land and rely on it for sustenance.

Each one of us also has an obligation to do our part to help maintain and preserve the integrity of our natural environment and to make this planet a cleaner and better place to live - our sacred and precious mother earth!

Pure Essential Oils catalog can be found here The Very Essence

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