untamed features

hitting the road for discovery & connection

hitting the road for discovery & connection

I’ve been busy of late fulfilling orders, researching new products, testing new recipes, and finalizing the Winter, 2014 catalog that will feature many of Untamed Alchemy’s new creations. As a result, I’m thrilled that the next few days provide a much needed break from my desk…

untamed fact #23 (chemotypes)

untamed fact #23 (chemotypes)

Individual essential oils can present with unique chemical compositions dependent upon details like their source location, climate conditions during the source plant’s growth cycle, and so on. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is an excellent example of an essential oil with a variety of potential chemotypes: you’ll…

aromatherapy for grief & loss

aromatherapy for grief & loss

Can I be completely honest with you? The last two years have been doozies. I mean pick-you-up-and-throw-you-down fire walks. In the first year I lost my job at a place that held my heart and my core relationships. I went from being surrounded by people…

wisdom in brief: clove

wisdom in brief: clove

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guidelines: blending for expectant mamas

guidelines: blending for expectant mamas

I am often asked about blending specifically for expectant moms. Below you’ll find my general guidelines which are either on par with–or more conservative than–guidelines from industry experts on safe use of essential oils. I’ve posted them as a permanent page as well–downloadable pdfs of…

eat your way to independence: symbolic foods for freedom

eat your way to independence: symbolic foods for freedom

As specific holidays approach, I get an increasing number of emails from readers asking for articles, recipes, spells, and advice relevant to the upcoming holiday: aphrodisiacs before Valentine’s Day, oils and herbs for gratitude before Thanksgiving, and so on. This year, I noticed for the first time…

bright ideas for a bold, beautiful garden

bright ideas for a bold, beautiful garden

Visitors to our Santa Fe farm often commented not only on the delicious flavor and prolific yield of our fruit and veggie gardens, but also on the enduring freshness of the items they yielded: most things stayed fresh looooong after similar store-bought items would turn or wither. We had…

home, sweet home! we’ve arrived in idaho!

home, sweet home! we’ve arrived in idaho!

We have long loved the high desert of Santa Fe and enjoyed the more than three hundred annual days of sunshine the environment provided over the decades we called it home. Using biodynamic principles in planting, harvesting, and putting by, we were able to delight in…

happy plants for da bees!

happy plants for da bees!

With spring showing her slip in everything from fruit blossoms to new blades of grass, lots of green thumbs are itching to get in the garden and plant in earnest. As you might imagine, I’m partial to organic, unsprayed garden gems that not only have medicinal…

lots to like about lemon

lots to like about lemon

Most of us recognize the fresh, citrus note of Lemon: we find it used in foods (from seafood dishes to teas) and products (from bathroom scrubs to wood polish). Lemon (Citrus limon) essential oil offers a broad range of therapeutic and energetic properties that support…

mooning over chamomile

mooning over chamomile

More often than not, when we think of Chamomile, we think of the herbal Chamomile tea used to encourage sleep. But Chamomile bears many additional therapeutic properties–and lends itself to more varied applications. Aromatherapy offers us two unique Chamomile essential oils: German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) and…

mooning over siberian fir

mooning over siberian fir

Siberian Fir (Abies siberica) is a particularly powerful essential oil from the evergreen family. While it bears the hallmark “pine-y” scent of its family, that is not the aroma that anchors it. Instead, it offers a unique woodiness and richness in its aroma. It is among…