In April, Clare Licher (from PhiBee Aromatics in Arizona) came to volunteer with our Jamaica Essential Oil Distillation Project.  Clare came through the USAID funded Farmer-to-Farmer program, which is administered by Partners of the Americas.

Jamaican farmers are interested in learning how to add value to the aromatic plants around us.  We just need the skill and access to the simple hardware needed to turn local aromatic plants into high value essential oils.

The Farmer-to-Farmer program and Partners of the Americas have been great supporters of Jamaican farmers over the years.  They made it possible for 1,000 individual Jamaican beekeepers to learn how to keep our bees healthy naturally in affordable top bar hives.  Now, we are able to learn how to take common plants such as fevergrass, and even wasted by-products such as pimento leaves from berry harvest or orange peels and turn them into amazing essential oils.

This is Clare’s second trip to support this project.  This time, she helped us to refine our distillation process so that it is more cost-effective and efficient.  The goal of this project is to bring distillation skills and information to grassroots Jamaica.  For more information about the Jamaica Essential Oil Distillation Project, please visit our website and our Facebook page.