{ Pictured: This year we are blessed with abundant lavender! }
Some days ago we had our first lavender harvest! This year the flowers were ready to harvest pretty late, as around mid June last year we were already harvesting lavender.
Our kind neighbour invited us again to her abundantly rich and fragrant lavender bushes, and for that we are so grateful! Kendra, thank you so much for this amazing gift! We are excited to be able to make this majestically fragrant oil again this year, and in what seems to be our largest quantities yet!
The bushes are heavier this year, even though our neighbour informed us that part of the bushes were burned due to very low temperatures. I can’t imagine how much lavender we would see if that hadn't happened!
Last year I went on most of the lavender harvests with just our boys. But this year all four of us harvested. And my skillful and speedy husband made for a much larger yield! Glory to God!
{ Pictured: Clipping the flowerheads into half gallon jars, to be filled with Organic extra virgin Greek olive oil }
When we return home with the plants after every harvest, I immediately try to put the quantity of the lavender I want to turn into oil in the jars. The fresher the flowers and buds are when steeped in the oil the better! Then, as is the case with all oils I infuse with fresh plant material, I cover the jars with a piece of cheesecloth, label them, and place them on an upper shelf in our warmest room high up in the house. I keep them there for about 5 days, and after that I seal them. In 4-6 weeks the flowers have transformed the oil. In the case of lavender, I have found, one need not place the jar on a South facing window at all to have the fragrant and beneficial lavender oil. The oil was equally good, if not better, when I left the jars in a shaded location. Who knows, maybe this is due to the delicate lavender flower, even though it is incredibly hardy and comes back again and again as a perennial after the long hard North Idaho winters. But then again this is the power and grace God has bestowed upon this hardy yet so delicate flower, the lavender!
{ Pictured: Our 1oz Lavender Salve that comes in a fully compostable to-go and biodegradable packaging }