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It is International Day for Biodiversity today, and these are two sage varieties enjoying the sun in our field. Salvia Officinalis with the purple flowers and Salvia fruticosa with the pink ones.

 

Same family, similar properties, but different smell and looks. Nature’s diversity is its way to adjust, develop, it is its mechanism against extinction. Exactly like a bank portfolio should be diversified in case a stock fails! *

And our clever intensive agriculture has caused the loss of such a big part of biodiversity – but better not touch this issue now.

Most of the flowers in the picture are already distilled now.

Farmer’s diary note: 45 kg of Salvia Officinalis produced 7 ml of essential oil (for Michalis’s experiments) and 20 kg of Salvia Fruticosa produced approx 80 litres of hydrosol (new product – stay tuned!!)

*We loved this line that we read recently in one of our favourite books “Hydrosols, The next aromatherapy” by Susan Catty, who quotes Kenny Ausubel in “Seeds of Change”.

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Διεθνής ημέρα βιοποικιλότητας σήμερα, και αυτές είναι δύο ποικιλίες φασκόμηλου, που λιάζονταν στο χωράφι μας πριν λίγες μέρες. Salvia officinalis η μία, αυτή με το έντονο μωβ χρώμα, Salvia fruticosa (ελληνικό φασκόμηλο) η άλλη, με το ανοιχτό ροζ.

Αν και στην ίδια οικογένεια, με παρεμφερείς ιδιότητες, έχουν διαφορετικό άρωμα και μοιάζουν ελάχιστα μεταξύ τους. Η ποικιλία στη φύση (αυτή που έχουμε χάσει τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες με τις μονοκαλλιέργειες, την εντατική γεωργία κλπ –αλλά ας μην το πιάσουμε αυτό το θέμα τώρα) είναι ο μηχανισμός της για να προσαρμόζεται, να εξελίσσεται, και να παραμένει ζωντανή. Όπως πχ ένα χαρτοφυλάκιο τραπεζικών μετοχών πρέπει να έχει ποικιλία ώστε αν «πέσει» μια μετοχή να τη στηρίξουν οι άλλες, ακριβώς αυτό κάνει και η φύση! *

 

Τώρα που μιλάμε, έχουν ήδη αποσταχθεί όσα φυτά ήταν ανθισμένα. Η fruticosa έγινε ανθόνερο – υδροδιάλυμα και η officinalis έγινε αιθέριο έλαιο για τα πειράματα του Μιχάλη.

Σημείωση αγροτικού ημερολογίου: τα 45 κιλά φασκόμηλο officinalis έδωσαν 7 ml αιθέριο έλαιο και τα 20 κιλά fruticosa έδωσαν περίπου 80 λίτρα ανθόνερο (νέο προϊόν – μείνετε συντονισμένοι)

*Η πετυχημένη παρομοίωση της φύσης με τραπεζικό χαρτοφυλάκιο δεν είναι δική μας – τη διαβάσαμε πρόσφατα στο αγαπημένο “Hydrosols – The next aromatherapy” της Suzanne Catty, και η πατρότητα ανήκει στον Kenny Ausubel -“Seeds of Change”.

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The strong antiviral properties of our high carvacrol oregano essential oil are combined with the vitamins, minerals and nutrients of the orange and honey, making this juice ideal to prevent flu symptoms.

(more…)

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Seed keeping, is one of our big loves, next to herbs! It is so rewarding to grow even a small part of what you eat daily…

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These red sweet peppers thrived on our balcony from a heirloom variety seed! And hopefully some of their little seeds will grow into a plant loaded with peppers too, next year. Heirloom varieties, old varieties, traditional varieties, farmers varieties, landraces, no matter how we call them, they carry within them extremely rich genetic information, that allows them to adjust to different climates and soil types and survive change. This big genetic diversity offers us unique flavors and nutritional value. And this is what people used to grow and eat before the commercial, more productive (but not reproductive) varieties emerged a few decades ago.

Most professional farmers unfortunately abandoned them during the last decades, for the sake of more productive, genetically uniform, high yielding hybrid varieties. The new commercial seeds are certainly more productive, but only short term, because of their narrow genetic base. Farmers can’t save seeds to replant them, not to mention the high dependence on pesticides and fertilizers. Hopefully, small farmers all over the world have realized this problem and have started to replant heirloom varieties. Even though since 1900 we have lost more than 75% of our plant genetic diversity, according to FAO, it is never too late to start caring for our planet, our soil, our health -and of course the variety and richness of the tastes we enjoy- ..

 

Thankfully, there has been a very positive recent reform in EU legislation that will allow organic farming to focus on heirloom varieties so that they adjust locally and become more productive through breeding.

 

Είναι απίθανο να μπορείς παράγεις μόνος σου κάτι απ’ όσα τρως! Αυτές οι πιπεριές μεγαλώνουν στο μπαλκόνι μας από σποράκια που κρατήσαμε πέρυσι, από παλιά, παραδοσιακή ποικιλία. Μαζί με τα βότανα, οι παλιές ποικιλίες σπόρων είναι η μεγάλη μας αγάπη. Οι παλιές ποικιλίες είναι ανθεκτικές και προσαρμόζονται στον κάθε τόπο, ωστόσο έχουν εγκαταλειφθεί από τους περισσότερους αγρότες επειδή δεν είναι τόσο παραγωγικές όσο τα εμπορικά υβρίδια -τα οποία όμως χρειάζονται πολλά λιπάσματα και φυτοφάρμακα-.

 

Ενώ μέχρι και πριν από μερικές δεκαετίες όλοι καλλιεργούσαν αυτές τις ποικιλίες, σήμερα έχει χαθεί σχεδόν το 75% της φυτικής βιοποικιλότητας, σύμφωνα με τον FAO.

Ευτυχώς υπάρχουν πολλοί καλλιεργητές σε όλο τον κόσμο που αρχίζουν να τις καλλιεργούν ξανά.

Μάλιστα, μια πρόσφατη νομοθετική αλλαγή στην ΕΕ θα επιτρέψει στους βιοκαλλιεργητές να τους δώσουν προτεραιότητα, αφού οι παραδοσιακές ποικιλίες ταιριάζουν απόλυτα στη βιολογική γεωργία!

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Για Ελληνικά δείτε παρακάτω.

Why Chemical Herbicides Aren’t an Option for Us

Organic farming is a lifetime love affair for us. Even when it comes to invasive weeds, chemicals are out of question. Seeking for alternatives we turned to our partners from ktimabioma and they suggested that we used fabric mulch. Michalis was excited and I was furious (Anastasia talking).

Ok, I know it helps keep the unwanted plants away, that the soil underneath is healthy (although it took me a lot of time to be convinced) and I surely know how much hard work it takes to get rid of the weeds by hand, in an organic farm with no herbicides at all Chemicals would make our work much easier –this is why conventional farmers prefer them- but the harm they do to the soil and our health is too severe to make them an option.

Despite the pros, I couldn’t overcome how ugly and unnatural fabric mulch seems on the ground and I also had my concerns about recycling it.

My objections were heard but overruled. Michalis works harder than me in the farm – everyone knows it – so I didn’t insist on my aesthetic and ideological objections. .

I kept suffering quietly while the mulch was laid and I even refused to visit the farm during winter, expressing my disagreement.

Does Fabric Mulch Actually Work for Organic Oregano?

Now, seeing the oregano plants thriving and remembering how many plants were lost when we didn’t use the mulch, I admit I feel comforted with the time, effort and money we will save (although the cost of the mulch was considerable). And I’m happy that the ‘wilds’ are also there, between the mulch lines, enhancing biodiversity.

 

But I still wish there was a way to have a balanced soil in a professional farm scale so that the unwanted plants wouldn’t harm our herbs, without having to spend years on preparing huge amounts of compost. .

I think it’s the first post that I talk about my personal views as Anastasia, compared to Michalis’s.

 

I prefer to share the things that we both agree on and focus on the “we” part of our story, but I felt that disagreements are also part of who we are, part of the journey through which we try to become better every day.

 

The point is not about being wrong or right, but being able to evaluate the circumstances and decide accordingly.
Even if in an ideal situation where time, effort and money didn’t matter, you would act differently.

 

Curious about how the debate continuous? You can read about our first evaluation on the fabric mulch here and you can continue to read our latest discoveries here

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Βιολογική γεωργία και ζιζάνια

Η βιολογική γεωργία για εμάς είναι σχέση ζωής. Ακόμη κι όταν είδαμε πόση δουλειά χρειάζεται για να αντιμετωπίσεις τα επίμονα ζιζάνια χωρίς χημικά, πεισμώσαμε περισσότερο. Ψάχνοντας εναλλακτικές ρωτήσαμε τους συνεργάτες μας από το Κτήμα Βίωμα και πρότειναν να τοποθετήσουμε γεωύφασμα για εδαφοκάλυψη. Ο Μιχάλης ενθουσιάστηκε κι εγώ έγινα έξαλλη (Αναστασία εδώ).

Εντάξει, γνωρίζω ότι εμποδίζει τα ανεπιθύμητα φυτά να μεγαλώσουν αφού δεν επιτρέπει το φως να περάσει, ότι το έδαφος από κάτω παραμένει υγιές (αν και δυσκολεύτηκα αρκετά να πειστώ) και το σημαντικότερο, πόσο σκληρή δουλειά είναι να προσπαθείς να ξεχορταριάσεις στρέμματα ολόκληρα με τα χέρια. Στον αγρό μας δεν χρησιμοποιούμε ζιζανιοκτόνα, δεν επιτρέπονται στη βιολογική γεωργία αλλά έτσι κι αλλιώς είμαστε ριζικά αντίθετοι. Μπορεί να διευκόλυναν πολύ τη δουλειά μας – γι’ αυτό τα προτιμούν οι συμβατικοί αγρότες- αλλά η ζημιά που προκαλούν στο έδαφος και στην υγεία μας είναι πολύ σοβαρή για να την προσπεράσουμε .

Ωστόσο, παρά τα πλεονεκτήματα, δεν μπορούσα να ξεπεράσω το πόσο άσχημο και αφύσικο φαίνεται αυτό το υλικό επάνω στο έδαφος. Επίσης είχα τους προβληματισμούς μου για την ανακύκλωσή του όταν (μετά από χρόνια ευτυχώς) θα φθαρεί.

Οι ενστάσεις μου φυσικά απορρίφθηκαν. Ο Μιχάλης είναι αυτός που δουλεύει κυρίως στο χωράφι, εκείνος θα κουραζόταν να τσαπίζει ρίζα – ρίζα και να ξεριζώνει τα φυτά που εμποδίζουν τα βότανα να μεγαλώσουν, οπότε δεν επέμεινα στις αισθητικές και ιδεολογικές μου αντιρρήσεις.

Τώρα, βλέποντας τα φυτά να αναπτύσσονται δυναμικά, παραδέχομαι ότι ήταν η σωστή επιλογή, τουλάχιστον για τη φάση αυτή. Θυμάμαι πόσα φυτά «πνιγόταν» πριν χρησιμοποιήσουμε την εδαφοκάλυψη και συνειδητοποιώ το χρόνο, την προσπάθεια και τα χρήματα που θα γλιτώσουμε μακροπρόθεσμα. (Αν και το κόστος του γεωυφάσματος δεν ήταν καθόλου αμελητέο).

Χαίρομαι επίσης που ανάμεσα στα σημεία της εδαφοκάλυψης φυτρώνουν «αγριόχορτα», συχνά και άλλα βότανα, γεμίζοντας το χωράφι με ποικιλία.

Ωστόσο ακόμη εύχομαι να υπήρχε τρόπος να είχαμε ισορροπημένο έδαφος στην καλλιέργειά μας ώστε να μην χρειάζεται να παλεύουμε συνέχεια με τα «αγριόχορτα»

 

Αυτό είναι το πρώτο κείμενο που μοιράζομαι τις προσωπικές μου σκέψεις, ως Αναστασία απέναντι στον Μιχάλη.

Η αλήθεια είναι ότι προτιμάμε να μοιραζόμαστε τα «σημεία συνάντησής» μας, αυτά στα οποία συμφωνούμε, και να εστιάζουμε σε όσα μας ενώνουν. Ωστόσο και οι διαφωνίες είναι μέρος αυτού που είμαστε, της πορείας μέσα από την οποία εξελισσόμαστε.

Το ζήτημα δεν είναι αν έχεις δίκιο ή άδικο, αλλά να είσαι σε θέση να αξιολογείς τις ανάγκες, τις συνθήκες και να αποφασίζεις ανάλογα, υποχωρώντας αν χρειάζεται.

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Although oregano is such a pleasant aromatic herb, its essential oil can be a bit of a shock to the senses. It has a sharp, herby flavour and even one drop can make your throat burn and your ears pop. Remember what happens to Asterix every time he drinks the magic potion? That’s what we are talking about. It’s all well worth it, but it can be a bit brutal if you don’t know the ropes. To be precise, the more an oregano essential oil “burns”, the more potent it is in its antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties (more about its properties in our previews post). So, you do want your oregano oil to be strong, but you don’t want to choke one afternoon in the middle of your apartment while getting your healthy fix. Fear not, friends; because we put so many methods to the test (no guinea pigs were used for this, just friends and family) and we are here to share what works…

First, let’s start with some (boring but) important information. Oregano essential oil is US FDA approved and is indeed approved as a potable item (granted that you buy a high-quality oregano essential oil like ours, intended for internal as well as topical use). It is a hot essential oil, so you should always dilute it. Note that although its use is approved and its benefits are backed up by numerous studies, you still need to check with your doctor or naturopath before using it, to make sure that it is safe for you personally. Also, you should avoid continued use over long periods of time or exceed the recommended amount mainly because it will reduce the body’s response to the instant antimicrobial effect that the oil has. Our body cells metabolize oils through complex chemical reactions (that scientists are still studying), so we shouldn’t exceed this metabolic capacity of the cells.

Lastly, we want to make clear that not all essential oils of oregano are the same; these guidelines are formed based on the Aetheleon oregano organic essential oil, which is of high quality, purity and potency. Weaker or diluted oils might require different treatment.

So, let the fun begin…

Internal use

• Oil + oil

a drop of oregano essential oil in a spoonful of olive oil. One could say that this even tastes pleasant. Some prefer it on a slice of bread (toasted or not). Tested and approved!

• Chef’s special

If you just can’t be bothered with taking oregano oil as a medicine, just throw a drop (or two) in a spoonful of olive oil and in your salad, mayonnaise, your Mexican salsa, a warm (not hot) bowl of lentil soup. It adds some zing in your food, plus, you get all the benefits.

• Spoon

Same concept as above, but you use a spoon to “target” the back of the throat. Fill the spoon with oil, add a drop of essential oil, bend your head slightly to the back and “hit”! Tip: it always feels nice to drink some water afterwards.

 

• Bread

Another classic. Roll a small piece of soft bread into a tiny (lentil-sized) ball and let a drop of essential oil fall onto it. Then act as if it was a pill, put it as near to your throat as you can and swallow it with some water. It sure keeps the tang away for whoever doesn’t like a bit of a sting (Don’t even think about chewing it).

• Desserts

Same as above. Just replace the piece of soft bread with a small sugar cube. Or a drop of oregano oil in a teaspoon of yummy honey.

• The capsule

For elaborate DIY-ers, you can always get a kit that helps you make your own capsules, simply by filling them with one-two drops of our oregano essential oil. This might be a helpful method for some. However, keep in mind that the rest of the methods mentioned have the extra benefit of letting the oil pass through the mouth and the esophagus, giving some love to the upper part of your GI tract as well.

• Inhale

A choir teacher told us that she hasn’t had a stuffy nose since she started adding a drop of oregano essential oil in a bowl of steamy water. She traps the steam by throwing a towel over her nose (protecting her eyes) and inhales for a few minutes. In fact, she has the entire choir following her practice now and they all swear by it. (Note to self: try this weekly treatment and see what happens to my acne.)

Nerdy reminder: Internal use should be kept to no more than two weeks in a month, and no more than twelve weeks every year. Of course, keep out of eyes, ears, or nose and note that its use is not allowed for children under 7 years of age. For older children or during pregnancy and breastfeeding, always ask a professional medical practitioner before use.

External uses

• Antimicrobial healing oil

A few drops of oregano essential oil added in a carrier oil like almond or sesame seed oil. This can be kept in a dark glass bottle (a great way to reuse our Miron Violetglass bottles) and used on wounds, insect bites, a variety of skin conditions and fungal problems. A cotton ball soaked in this blend and left on the nails, should keep any nasty nail fungus at bay, if repeated often.

• Muscle balm

A few drops of oregano along with other essential oils like rosemary, carrier oils and thickening agents such as with beeswax, makes a beautiful balm that can be used for muscle pain, strains and spasms. Just apply it in topically whenever you need to relief a sore muscle.

• Happy feet

Dilute 1-2 drops in your favourite carrier oil (almond oil, st johns wort oil, olive oil etc) and rub the soles of your feet to help boost your immune system.

Your skin there is less sensitive than the rest of your body (especially if you like walking barefoot), so you are less likely to have an allergic reaction. Plus, there are more nerve endings per square centimetre in the foot than any other part of the body, so your nervous system will get the memo fast.

• Diffuse (Burner)

When having sick people at home, make a light blend of essential oils which include oregano, eucalyptus and orange and add them to the essential oil diffuser, just to keep the air clean. Some friends who had a major mold issue in their house, kept diffusing oregano essential oil for weeks, with impressive results. There is something about oregano essential oil that just makes the air feel pleasantly fresh.

• Candles

Yes, candles! You can add our oregano essential oil with any other pure, natural essential oil you like (our favorite combination is with sage) in melted soy wax to create your own, natural, personal candles! You only need a few tools and materials (not expensive at all) and in a couple of hours you have custom scented candles to create a refreshing atmosphere at your home or office.

• Toothpaste

A few drops of oregano essential oil in your DIY toothpaste will give it a good antibacterial kick. Some of our friends have been using this over a year and they swear that their teeth have gotten healthier. You can find many recipes online, but a basic blend of coconut oil with a dash of baking soda, cinnamon and turmeric, is all it takes. It feels awkward at first but it leaves your breath surprisingly fresh too. We thought it would smell like souvlaki to be honest.

Nerdy reminder: Αs with any essential oil, always do a skin patch test before use (Take a small quantity, dilute it in a carrier oil and apply it to sensitive areas of the body like the inner wrist or inner elbow, wait for 12-24 hours to see if it causes any skin reactions – if not, go for it!)

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That’s the information we have gathered so far, but we keep hearing more and more people using the essential oil of oregano in a lot of creative ways. If you have been using our oregano essential oil in a different way, let us know and we will keep experimenting and sharing. If you haven’t, it only takes one drop to be converted. Just order yours online from our eshop and join the tribe!