I counted 12 lavender plants in my gardens this season. Some I started from seed when Thomas + I moved in a couple of years ago, some were bought with a good head start.
Just the other day, they began to flower and the bees have been dancing around them ever since.
Easy to grow, yet a bit tedious to harvest, it takes about 20-30 minutes to work my way through each plant; I leave half the stems behind for the bees and their dancing, and for the promise of seed for next year.
These flowers are precious. Some get sent off to my CSA customers, the rest will be hung for drying. Once the moisture has been removed, the flowers will be plucked from the stems and added into a blend of oils for infusing. The flowers + oil will infuse for a moon cycle, longer if I can stand it. This oil will be the base for my new healing salve recipe; from field to flower to medicine.
Some of you have been waiting (thank you!) for this new batch. Please sit tight just a little bit longer.
Some of you have also been asking about restocks of bug spray and witch hazel water. Instead of producing these, I’ll soon be sharing my recipes for you to create your own blends.
Over the past couple of years working and growing in my gardens, I’ve had a bit of a moral dilemma with essential oils, as it takes pounds and pounds of flower to make a tiny jar of oil; I can’t help but question if the yield justifies the means.
Although I don’t deny the power in that tiny bottle, I’ve made the decision to discontinue using essential oils in my products, instead opting for using what I can grow, along with pure, traceable ingredients: sustainable nut and seed oils from the US, dried flowers from my garden, and reputably sourced, US beeswax. The turnaround is slow, but patience is rewarded.
So this is where I wait.
For the bees to dance, flowers to open, moon to cycle around.