April Showers

          Spring is officially here! And with it comes flowers and rain and bugs. I know it's a little early to talk about how to keep the bugs of you and your garden, but it's always good to be prepared. A lot of the oils will overlap between keeping the bugs off you and keeping the bugs off your garden. There will also be some overlap in application.

          I know bugs are here for a purpose, but I also know that their purpose is not to attack me. However, I don't enjoy putting on bug spray. For one thing it smells terrible, and for another it is laden with chemicals. So, the oils that are great bug repellents are Lavender, Lemon, Sage, Roman Chamomile, Patrouli, Basil and Purification essential oils. You can apply these a couple of different ways to have them be effective. One way is that you can just apply any combination of these oils or just a single oil if you wish to your wrists and hands. Another is you can make a spray. Simply put some water into a spray bottle and add a few drops of the oil or oils of your choice to the water and its ready to go. These oils smell way better then any store bought bug repellent ever could. Plus these oils also relieve existing bug bites.

        Bugs are great pollinators, great at keeping out other pests and are a vital part of our ecosystem. It is extremely frustrating, however, for a person like me, who already has a hard time growing plants to be out done by a bug. I love letting my potted garden go outside, but I always worry that some obliging bug will decide to kill my plant for me. The bug repelling oils for plants are Peppermint, Oregano, Melrose, Thieves and Purification. Find your favorite spray bottle, fill it with water, add a few drops of the oil or oils of your choice and your good to go. The kids can even play outside while your spraying for bugs. And you don't have to worry if they get it in their mouth or breath it! If you are interested in more gardening with essential oil tips check out this article.

 

         Since we are talking about gardening and spring, I wanted to mention that if you love fresh blueberries, you have to check out Alta Vista Blueberries. They are a local blueberry patch in the beautiful Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon.I have been completely  spoiled by how good their blueberries are and can no longer eat store bought blueberries. To find out more about them, check out their website.

         I want to let you all know about a couple exciting events this month. The first is that I am holding an Introduction to Essential Oils class on April 10th. During this class I will talk about the oils in the Everyday Kit, what essential oils are and talk about Young Living. The second is Soap Making with Essential Oils on April 26th. We will be making soap with oils and you can take your own bar home when it's done. For more information on both of these classes, check out my Facebook page at Thoughts From Oakdale.

        We are also still collecting signatures to end taxpayer funded abortions in Oregon. Statewide we have 29% of the signatures we need and in Jackson County we have 37% of the signatures we need. We only have till May 11th, 2014. That's a little over a month away. I think it is still possible for us to get the signatures we need by then, but we need to start acting now. Thank you so much to all of you who have already been collecting.

        If you are interested in trying essential oils as bug repellents check out Young Living's website. If you decide to order, click on the member sign-up button at the top of the page, enter my member number into the enroller and sponsor # slots and proceed to check out. My member # is 1564241.

      What's your favorite part of spring? Do you like to garden? What's your favorite plant?

Soli Deo Gloria!