Barbara's blog

During times of great change and uncertainty, it seems fundamentally important to be gentle with others and with ourselves. 

Along with most people I know, my family and I are learning new ways to navigate a new economy and an anxious world.  It is very easy to become angry or frustrated, and to direct that energy to whole groups of people ("those damned politicians"). 

Worse yet, it is easy to direct that negative energy inward and beat ourselves up for getting into that big mortgage, failing to save enough money or losing track of our values. 

If you are planning a garden this year, why not set aside a little space for your little ones to grow a few veggies of their own? I've seen even picky eaters gobble up veggies they grow themselves.

Children love to watch  the seeds they planted push up through the ground and grow into something they can eat for dinner.  Even if you live in a high rise apartment, you can grow mixed salad greens in a pretty planter or grow carrots in a deep bucket with a sand/soil mix (you'll need some holes in the bottom for drainage).

Did you ever wonder where the term “spring fever” comes
from? 

Back in the time when people ate more in tune with the
changing seasons, it was a common practice to enjoy the first green shoots of
wild herbs.  Sometimes whole villages
made a joyous pilgrimage to the  meadows to harvest spring’s first bounty. When
you think about a winter diet based on stored roots and brined (salted) foods,
a fresh salad after so many months must have seemed a great treat.

That's right.  Just sniffing essential oils can help you feel full sooner and control between meal snack cravings.

Winter sports and outdoor work don't have to mean cold hands and cold feet.  A customer who works winter construction in Colorado recently purchased black pepper oil from us. He mixes it with plain vegetable oil to rub on his hands for winter work. 

Here's how it works. Black pepper brings blood flow to the surface of the skin for that natural warmth from your own body. 

Everyone knows the importance of a good breakfast to start the day right. 

Many of us have rejected the empty calories of highly processed breakfast cereals.  I remember touring a major cereal manufacturer thirty five years ago.  The guide showed us how the whole corn that came into the plant was processed and reduced to inert white mush.  Then it was formed, dyed and sprayed with vitamins to create a so-called nutritious product. I swore off corn flakes forever.

If the last few years have knocked your budget sideways, you are not alone.  If you lay awake at night wondering how you are going to make it all work out, you are also not alone.  And you are possibly making the problem worse by ramping up harmful stress that can erode your health.

Here at the Oasis Botanica, we are relentlessly reworking our business budget and our household budget in line with economic realities.  This is about as much fun as a root canal, but it is work we have to do if we are to keep our wits and our health about us in the years to come.

We were pleased to receive a recent post from a customer who uses Crudbuster blend whenever she feels a fever blister coming on. She reports that one tiny drop applied directly to the area prevents a breakout, and quickly resolves any breakouts that have already erupted.