School of Essential Living Arts Blog

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. 

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.

If your dog is out of sorts, essential oils and herbs may be all the help he needs.

Here's a handy guide to print out and use for common dog ailments. Don't use these suggestions on your cat, canary or any other pets. Each type of animal has special needs. Some, including cats, cannot tolerate essential oils.

"When life wearies and ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden"

Somehow, this old quote seems very contemporary. We have too much bad news around us these days. I finally decided to put myself on a "news fast" and spend the time in the garden instead.

A whole mess of spider mites blew in this summer on the west wind from Utah. They just wiped out the early coneflowers hollyhocks. It was a heartbreaker to have to cut off all those beautiful new buds, but it was the only way to keep the mites from invading even further. Fortunately, the coneflowers and hollyhocks rebounded with even more beautiful, mite-free flowers a few weeks later.

The more I hear about kids with learning problems, the more I think about wooden classrooms. I know I'm showing my age, but when I was a kid I went to a school with a lot a wood. Wooden floors, wooden desks, cedarwood pencils, and wood-cased windows that actually opened for a little fresh air. I don't remember a rash of inattentive kids with behavior problems. When I look at today's classrooms, I have to wonder. So many are entirely constructed of plastics and other off-gassing materials, and many don't even have windows that open.

All my years and years of self-study and classes about how the body works and how different health treatments work really paid off this winter. I won't bore my readers with too many details, but I think I probably would have died if I had not known when to take matters into my own hands.

“Let your food be your medicine” is ancient good advice that is getting a fresh listen. With the high price of food, who can afford to eat junk?! We need to make every bite count with maximum nutrition. Both classic European cooking and aromatic Indian cooking do the job with style.

Food has not always been plentiful. Many of the old-fashioned food preparation methods were survival strategies. Classic culinary practices like making sauerkraut and adding a dash of vinegar to cooked greens were actually techniques to maximize available nutrients. The added flavor was a bonus.

Our greenhouse is one of the best investments we’ve ever made. For under $10,000 total investment, we got a 10’ x 16’ lean-to greenhouse. Besides adding 160 of delightful covered space, the greenhouse heats the house, cleans the air and helps us make money. It makes our house look better too!

Normally, when a person here in the high desert opens the front door on a clear January day, they expect a blast of cold air. That’s not true in our house.