Exploring the essentials of Ikaria

Ever since arriving in Ikaria, I have been enchanted by the abundance of the wild herbs of the island. I have lived here since 2009 and after some time and some research, I started experimenting with making essential oils using a tiny distiller. And so I became absorbed with the process of making therapeutic grade essential oils and hydrosols from the indigenous plants of the island. In the last 3 years I have been running the business with my wife, Tara, under the name ikarianature (https://ikarianature.com). I met Katrin right at the start of her adventure to build THE EGG Venue on Ikaria. We gradually became good friends and she also witnessed the gradual building of our essential oil business. In fact, I met my wife Tara through Katrin and THE EGG.

Since the very beginning of THE EGG, I have shared my essential oils with her visitors. They appreciate our essential oils and hydrosols, being people seeking natural and potent healing products. Seeing their enthusiasm and being passionate about our work, we began having visitors to our distillery (and home) to share our experience of making our oils and waters. Since last year these visits turned into a half day (around 4 hours) workshop about making high quality essential oils and hydrosols. Our journey together starts with a short walk from a meeting point on the main road between Armenistis and Agios Dimitrios to our place down in the forest. While walking, we identify and talk about the indigenous herbs. And we explain extensively how we apply sustainability in our wild crafting. Our home and distillery is in a traditional Ikarian stone house built on a hillside and surrounded by handmade terraces and olive trees. Once we reach our place, we talk about our underlying philosophy, why we choose to live here in Ikaria and produce essential oils from its herbs. Then we pick up our scythes and take a short walk to find the herb that is blossoming in the season. We gather the herb and bring it back to the distillery. We load up the distiller and start the distillation. Of course, everyone participates in these processes. While waiting for the essential oil to start emerging, we drink some tea and eat something tasty that Tara has prepared for us. We talk about the distillation process in detail, focusing on quality issues. Then we sample all the essential oils and hydrosols that we make. We talk about their healing properties and how they can be used. This often turns into a rich discussion as visitors share their experiences of essential oils and how they use them. Finally the first drops of essential oil start to come out of the distiller. And we share the magic of nature's pure medicine!