Lotus Moon Medicinals is a certified organic farm in South Londonderry, Vermont owned by Lini Mazumdar.  Lini is an Herbalist certified from the Southwestern School of Botanical Medicine. She also has Masters of Education in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University, and has been initiated in the Medicine Buddha tradition by Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, former physician to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Lini has been growing certified organic herbs and making products in Vermont for the past 14 years.  She began her study in Ayurvedic Nutritional Counseling this year, certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners,  and will start conducting nutritional consultations, growing ayurvedic herbs and making products with them in 2012.

The small diverse family farm is nestled on a classic 1800′s Vermont hill farm with a ten acre slope above the West River in the village of South Londonderry, Vermont. Their community-based farm with agritourism as its market niche in the Green Mountains is a challenge, but the rich soil, clean water and great neighbors make it all worthwhile. Their crop diversity and friendliness is their strength, and they have a fantastic mix of products easily available throughout the season.

Lini grows Certified Organic heirloom vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs. During the growing season, there are many special events on the farm. They also host students of all ages in both the field and the barn classroom. They host farm tours, special events, and workshops.  At the farm they grow two acres of mixed annual vegetables, culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, blueberries, raspberries, apples, pears and hops! The farm has an additional 3,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse production that expands more than three seasons.

Body-care products:

• Bug Off: a natural and safe insect repellent, free of citronella and DEET. 
• Fabulous Face and Hand Cream, with ingredients so clean it is almost edible!
• Salves for all sorts of skin conditions.
• Bath Salts, with their own flowers and herbs.
• Massage Oils.
• Nerve and Muscle Cream with wild crafted St. John’s Wort and farm grown Arnica.
• Aromatherapy Sprays enhanced with flower essences.

Read more about their products.

Order by email or phone
Email: linimazumdar@yahoo.com
Phone: 802-824-4658.

While we were on Crete, we had an extraordinary opportunity to visit Gill and Derek Pearce at their organic lavender and olive farm, The Lavender Way. The Lavender Way is the only organic lavender farm in Crete. They produce and sell essential oils, sachets, gels, spritzers, tea and hand-made wands and ship worldwide.

Lavender plants and olive trees clearly love each other! To see pictures of these two growing in harmony together I created a slideshow on Flickr (including all my pictures from Greece and Crete).

Within moments of meeting Gill and Derek I felt as if I was meeting old friends. Their philosophy, approach to the plants, love of beauty and essential oils left me feeling right at home. Gill showed us her remarkable journal tracking all the lavender plants and species, where they are planted and their progress. These lavender plants are well loved!

In the drying room were tables filled with lavender! Tucked away were infusions of St Johns wort and carrot seed. Gill showed us the different species of lavender flowers and explained the different oils and products being produced.

As we wandered through the lavender fields we were greeted by mounds of vibrant healthy lavender, olive trees, wild herbs and bamboo…  Oh and did I mention the view of the Aegean sea from their house? Beauty everywhere I looked.

The picture here is of the lunch we shared together at a local restaurant. We never even opened the menu, they just asked the chef what was fresh and platters of food arrived!

If you are tempted to treat yourself to some wonderful lavender oils, wands or tea from Crete, this is the place!

After the distiller trip to Bulgaria, we went to Greece to visit another essential oil distiller on the island of Crete.

Janina and Babis started The Herbs of Crete in 1994. All their essential oils are made from plants that are wildcrafted by hand and distilled with the utmost care and respect for each plant.

The journey from the little airport in Crete to The Herbs of Crete was an adventure!

The coastal area is very tropical, and I felt right at home surrounded by the plants we live with in Florida (orange trees, bougainvillaea, bamboo, eucalyptus trees, hibiscus flowers and palm trees).

As we found our way up the mountains, we started to see conifer trees, wild thyme in full bloom (purple) and lots of wild carrot. We went from the stunning blue/green ocean and beaches up to a beautiful, dramatic, dry desert landscape filled with wild herbs.

The road got small, the mountains got huge and we started to wonder what would happen if we came across another car on this windy, one lane mountain road! Our GPS no longer had any satellite connection and we pulled off the road to consider if we were headed the right way. Off in the distance we saw a large truck coming our way and decided to ask for directions (wishing so much that I had learned to speak Greek!). As I peeked into the truck I saw hundreds of shoes… We were speaking to the local shoe repair man! He encouraged us that we were head around the right mountain and off we went.

Arriving at the cafe at Herbs of Crete was a surprising experience after driving along the mountain roads! Suddenly we were at the coolest little cafe with stone tables, beautiful plants, a kitchen filled with essential oils, hydrosols, homemade olive oil soap, ceramic candle diffusers, and dried flowers everywhere! Janina has created a unique, welcoming space for anyone who happens upon it and wants an organic coffee!

We stayed in her guest room for two nights and explored Crete. We talked with Janina and Ina (her apprentice from Norway) for hours, smelled their amazing essential oils, and ate the wonderful food she prepared for us. This hidden gem is well worth exploring. They sell their essential oils online in small sizes only. The shipping is the same for one bottle or 12, so why not buy 12? So nice to find a distillery that sells retail sizes of their oils.

If you would like to see pictures of Greece and especially Crete I created a slide show on flickr.

On my recent trip to Bulgaria I visited a wonderful Essential Oil Distillery called RKL, located in the village of Bial Briag. They are a small distillery with beautiful organic fields of herbs such as Lavender, Melissa, Yarrow and Saint John’s Wort.

One of the three owners of RKL graciously met us at the airport in Varna, Bulgaria and spent the next three days with us. Alex took us to his distillery in Bial Briag and another distillery he supports called Little Arcadia, owned by his friends Antonina and Ivan, in Kipilovo village. Both distilleries are located in extraordinary, old villages.

The first day we spent in Varna, a costal town along the Black sea that reminded me of all the wonderful villages I love so much in France. Outdoor cafes serving incredible local food, people out on the cobblestone streets late into the night, and street performers playing music.

The next day we drove for a few hours through huge fields of sunflowers in full bloom to his distillery. The distillery is located in an old stone building in a very charming, ancient village. We met Georgi, his distillery manager who lives in the village with his wife Milka. Georgi owns 30 horses, one (Mladenka) who was kind enough to pull us in a cart through the village to their Melissa fields! We were told that Mladenka, the horse, was so smart that he could be a president!

I have pictures of the distillery, the people and the herb fields on my flickr account (along with the rest of the Bulgaria trip).

What impressed me most about RKL was that the three owners, Alex, Alexander and Vili, all come to the business with different skills. Alexander is a landscaper designer and knows the plants well, Alex has a background in international trade, importing and exporting, and Vili is what Alex called “the idea guy”. For example, Vili came up with the idea to make their own pellets from sawdust to run the boiler for the distillery.

They are dedicated to organic growing and skillful distilling. Alex has also begun to work with other local Lavender distillers to combine their efforts to provide larger quantities of Lavender essential oils to companies around the world. Bulgarian Lavender is beautiful! I always think of Rose essential oil when I think of Bulgaria, but the Lavender is also amazing, along with the Yarrow, German Chamomile, St John’s Wort and the other local herbs.

RKL are also the co-founders of BEOG – Boutique Essential Oils Group. BEOG is a commercial union of Bulgarian producers of rare organic and top quality herbal essential oils, brought together by common ideals and goals. RKL has years of hands-on experience in cultivated herb growing and distillation of essential oils, as well as profound commercial experience in international trade. The main task of BEOG is to unite the various small farmers under a standardized and controlled production and distillation process so their special products meet the high standards of the world markets.

Currently BEOG owns and runs more than 160 hectares (1 hectare equals about 2.47 acres) of Melissa, Saint John’s Wort, Chamomile, Elecampane, Wild Oregano, Yarrow, Rue, Winter Savory, Lovage, Angelica, Lavender and Dill.

The essential oil production in Bulgaria is impressive. It was deeply inspiring and heartfelt to see such large areas of herbs being grown organically, and such skillful distillation at each of the distilleries we visited.

As with most distilleries, the Bulgarian distillers tend to sell their essential oils in larger quantities for essential oil companies that import. If you are wanting small sizes (1/2 oz-16 oz), Karen at Aromatics International sells a beautiful Bulgarian Rose absolute, and a deep blue Bulgarian Yarrow.

If these posts about distilleries interest you, my next post will be on the distilleries I visited in Crete, Greece.

Last week I flew to Bulgaria and met up with my friend Christina, owner of Essential Education International.  We visited several distilleries. The first was Ecomaat Distillery. The morning after we arrived in Bulgaria, we drove into the Balkin mountains to a small, beautiful village called Mirkovo. Fortunately we had a navigation system (and specifically a chip for Bulgaria) because trying to read street signs with names like “площад „Батенберг” made us laugh!

Ecomaat is located in a beautiful, ecologically pure region in the very heart of the Balkan Mountains. They distill wild-growing herbs and plants. Ecomaat is certified for organic production of essential oils.  The main activity of the company is the cultivation of essential oil crops and herbs, and the processing of these crops for the production of essential oils and CO2 extracts. Their essential oil production is based on a traditional Bulgarian approach combined with cutting-edge distillation equipment and methodology.

Ecomaat’s basic principles of organic agriculture preserve the fertility of the Earth. They refrain from polluting activities to preserve the environment. They don’t use synthetic pesticides or genetically modified organisms. Ecomaat’s principles are established in order to respect their consumers and future generations.

Upon arriving at Ecomaat (no small miracle) we were transported into a world of vibrant CO2 extracts, extraordinary essential oils and a beautiful distillery! Atanas, the distiller at Ecomaat, gave us a wonderful tour of the distillery and CO2 extraction equipment. The CO2 process is really interesting. It consists of pumping pressurized carbon dioxide into a chamber filled with plant matter (roses, chamomile, lilacs and so on). When carbon dioxide is subjected to pressure it becomes “supercritical” (meaning that it has liquid properties while remaining in a gaseous state). Because of the liquid properties of the gas, the CO2 functions as a solvent, pulling the oils, pigment and resin from the plant material. The temperature involved in the supercritical extraction process is low, around 95 to 100 degrees F, as opposed to 140 to 212 degrees F in steam distillation.

For some plants, a CO2 supercritical extract can retain the more genuine aroma of the plant. For example, I felt the aroma of the CO2 extracts of lavender and cardamom were more vibrant than the essential oil.

I asked Atanas to share his thoughts on CO2 extraction. Here is what he said: “As mentioned during our meeting and discussions, one of the major advantages of the supercritical extraction is that the process is selective. By changing the work parameters (temperature and pressure, thus influencing the density of the solvent) we have the possibility to extract different compounds. This way we are capable to make selective and total extraction resulting in ‘select’ and ‘total’ grade of the extract. In general the ‘select’ contains more essential oil, while the ‘total’ includes also the lipophilic compounds and plant waxes in addition to the essential oil”.

The “select” extraction results in a liquid that looks like an essential oil. The “totals” are always waxy, concrete like, and solid or semi solid. Personally, I loved the solids from the total extract. They are not fat soluble so they can be used to infuse a carrier oil like jojoba, much like the vanilla oleoresin infused jojoba that Karen makes at Aromatics International.

In between smelling essential oils, CO2 extracts and Bulgarian rose products, Atranas and his wife Yordanka (Dani for short) took us out to lunch in their village. We had the most wonderful meal of grilled vegetables, salads and meats with a frozen handmade yogurt for dessert, topped with walnuts and honey. Between the aromas of the oils and the aroma of the food, we were in Bulgarian heaven!

I was deeply inspired by the work of everyone at Ecomaat and highly recommend their essential oils and CO2 extracts. This is a link to the photos I took throughout the trip in Bulgaria. My next blog post will be on another wonderful distillery near the Black Sea in Bulgaria.

It is rare for a distiller to sell retail. Generally to buy directly from a distiller we have to buy larger quantities (at least a few kilos). Alain, the distiller and owner of Florihana Distillery in the south of France, is happy to sell small and large sizes of essential oils. Here is a blog post I wrote about Florihana.

Our distiller in South Africa recently sent me this picture of one of the women producing Marula oil (Sclerocarya birrea), one of our favorite carrier oils. Each Marula fruit holds a nut, and inside the nut is the kernel from which the oil is extracted. Considerable work goes into the extraction process as the nut is fibrous. The nuts are cracked, by hand, on a stone slab to find the kernel, and then the kernel is cold pressed by hand for the oil.

After working all day, only 1-2 kg of oil is produced. The precious oil produced is very light and absorbs quickly into the skin. Silky to the touch, Marula oil is healing for the skin. It is rich in antioxidants and oleic acid, both which contribute to healthy skin.

Properties of Marula

• Protects and nourishes the skin
• Good for oily skin and hair
• Soothing for Dermatitis
• Soothing for Eczema
• Soothing for Psoriasis
• Healing for Sunburns
• Moisturizing for chapped/irritated skin
• Great base for massage oils

We recently received this story via email from one of our South African distillers and would love to share it with you:

We have a very poor community in Bela Bela who have quite a lot of land available to them because of the size of their tribal boundaries. ( Bela Bela is about 4 hours drive from Johannesburg where our offices are)

About one year ago, the community, represented by Mr Lelaka, decided to allocate some of the land to growing essential oil crops. Mr Lelaka contacted us last year to ask for funding and education on farming essential oils.

They received a small donation from a private bank investment which allowed them to build a small nursery, clear natural land and put basic irrigation on the land from a river which flows through their land. We were able to fund Organic geranium plants to help them get started.

We also have joined with them to try to find more funding to expand. We have met with them on numerous occasions (at our offices and on their land) to give advice and educate them on how the grow geraniums successfully. We prepared a 21 page presentation for them to allow them to use the presentation as a marketing tool to try get funding.

They are wanting to expand to alternate crops and to clear more land.

Last week, out of the blue, I got a call from a lady named Desiree who was in a panic. Her story is that she had been growing wild lemongrass in her little farm in Bela Bela for a while and cultivating it.  The lemongrass plants were healthy and covered almost three quarters of a hectare.  Desiree had recently sold her farm and had just heard that the new owner was going to pull out all her lemongrass to plant strawberries – that same week!

This upset Desiree because she felt that all her effort and time had gone into growing each lemongrass plant and now they were going to be thrown out for compost. Desiree contacted me at the last minute in desperation to try to find out if we can do something with the lemongrass plants (even distill them to at least get some oil from her hard work).

So I contacted Mr Laleka who has been waiting for funding since October last year and asked him if he had a way to move the plants. Unfortunately, a large truck would be needed to collect all the plants and there was no one who could help out immediately. I spoke to Mr Lelaka to explain that if he could collect the lemongrass, it could be used as a natural insect repellent for the geranium crop. We discussed planting the lemongrass among the geranium or around it and also the yield which lemongrass has for the amount of oil it can produce (a very high yield). Mr Lelaka found a friend in the area who had a small pick-up and a trailer. They immediately drove to the lemongrass farm (while the strawberry tractors were waiting to plough the ground) and pulled out as many plants as possible and packed the pickup and trailer as full as possible.

It turns out that the lemongrass will be sufficient to be planted on the perimeter of the geranium field and will act as an insect repellent for the geranium crops. The lemongrass will also yield oil which we can purchase from Mr Lelaka.

So all in all, it was a great success: Most of Desiree’s plants were saved and Mr Lelaka and the community received many lemongrass plants at no cost. We are now going to wait for the new crop to settle down in its new environment and then we will harvest and distill the lemongrass to see the quality of the oil and then we can plan how much should be propagated for future oil sales.

Florihana is a distillery in the south of France. This is their mission statement:

“At the foundation of our commitment to create the Florihana distillery were two main aims: respect for nature and development of highly therapeutic certified organic products for aromatherapists.”

I believe they have accomplished both!

Florihana uses organic farming techniques for plants under cultivation.  Any wild plants are harvested from sustainable sources with respect to their ecosystems. They have an exclusive distillation process set up and they use very low temperatures to distill their plants.

They offer you the complete botanical name and chemotype, distillation date and batch number on all their labels. Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) reports are given for every batch on their website. The only other website I know that does this is Aromatics International, in Montana, USA.

Florihana sells organic essential oils, hydrosols, carrier oils, and soaps. They make organic cosmetics, honey, massage oils and more. You can purchase small sizes on their website; a wonderful feature for a distillery! The shipping is rather high, so it makes sense to purchase more items, or share an order with a few friends. Tell Alain that Andrea from Aromahead sent you (no affiliate program, I am just a big fan!).

Aromatics International imports their Ylang Ylang (Canaga odorata) essential oil from a South African distiller who has been in the essential oil business since 1983. Clive works with rural communities and emerging farmers to establish crops specifically for essential oils. His daughter, Jessica, works with him in the business concentrating primarily on organic essential oils. They work directly with rural farmers supplying distillation units and teaching the skills of distilling. Clive and Jessica are also involved with farmers and distillers in Madagascar, Rwanda, and Zambia.

A very simple blend of Ylang Ylang and Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is wonderful for supporting sleep, especially for those with a busy mind! The rich aroma of Ylang Ylang adds a deep floral note to any blend. The oil is so penetrating that a few drops is all you need in your blend. There is nothing quite like the scent of this beautiful tropical flower to lift your spirits in the depth of winter!