School of Essential Living Arts Blog

The arrival of the seed catalogues is a great reason to invite your gardening buddies over for some summertime dreaming.

Brew up a kettle of winter soup and bake some homemade bread or biscuits.  Just add gardening friends and a few seed catalogues, and you have an easy party where the fun just keeps on coming.

Pass the catalogues around and ask guests to key in on varieties that interest the group.  In our high desert area, varieties that ripen early, have some drought tolerance, and can tolerate alkaline soil get top billing.

That's right!  Just wipe off any dust, pop them into a freezer bag and put them in the deep freeze.  No peeling, no blanching.  No muss, no fuss.  Works great.

Yes, fall is the very best time to plan your spring garden!  All the things that worked this year in your garden, as well as all the things that did NOT work, are fresh in your mind.

We get a lot of questions from people who are new to essential oils.  They go like this:

What oil can I use to replace XYZ pharmaceutical?

The answer is, that's not the way therapeutic essential oils work.  Yes, sometimes they work as fast or even faster than synthetic drugs, but they work in a very different way.

Synthetic drugs are made to override the body's own responses.  Think of someone hijacking your car and driving around with you inside.

“Friendly Flowers” are all the buzz at our Oasis
Botanica demonstration garden in Mack,
Colorado.  Did you know that since flowers are not meant
to be eaten, the laws that control toxic chemicals do not apply?!  Not only does that put hidden toxins in your
home, it also contributes to a world-wide industry that damages the health of
thousands of workers.  We grow our own at
Oasis Botanica.  We don’t want toxins in
our home or in yours.

Do you have a “tension zone”
in your home or business?  It may be the
waiting room of your dental office, or it may be your own computer station as
you pay your bills. You can turn your tension zone into a calm zone with just a
few drops of essential oils.  Maybe you
have a “dead zone” in your staff meeting room. 
It’s exciting when creative ideas replace that stale air after a subtle
application of mind-engaging essential oils. 
Use the stimulating, relaxing and calming power of plants to get where

Many people prefer a natural insect repellent, but they dislike the smell of traditional citronella oil. 

You've worked hard to give your business a distinctive brand.  Why not reinforce that brand when customers visit with custom essential oil blends?  It is easy and cost-effective to create the ambiance you want, from an energizing atmosphere in a sports shop to an air of relaxed confidence in a financial planning office.

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.