Lavender - Growing and Using It

Growing lavender ... the bees love it and we all know that we need to save the bees! They go about their business getting nectar and collecting pollen and are happy not to bother you so don't bother them.

But we can share the lavender with the bees. It has many uses. Like in sachets (does everyone's Grandma smell like lavender?), crafting, cooking and baking. I've shared a couple of ideas here, but for more just look on Pinterest or google lavender and there are tons of  things to do with lavender!💜

Cut flowers in the morning for the freshest blooms and leave a 4-6" stem. Tie in small bunches.

And hang them upside-down in a semi-dark room. This storage room in the basement has only one small window so it worked fine. Leave space between the bundles for good air flow.

Or you could tie bundles together then tie them to a wreath, overlapping to cover the strings.

Work them all the way around or you may choose to leave some of the wreath exposed like I did.

Once the bundles are tied to your liking set the wreath lying flat in a darkened room to dry before attaching a ribbon to hang.

Now back to those bundles that were hanging upside-down to dry. Remove the leaves and flowers in separate piles and store them in jars with tight fitting lids to keep the oils and scent from escaping. I like these tins from David's tea because of the see-through top.

There are many uses for both lavender leaves and flowers. As lavender is an herb and a close relative of rosemary it's leaves can be used wherever you might use rosemary. 

The flowers, also edible, can be used (sparingly) in salad for instance. Start off slowly ...don't want to make your food too "perfumy"!

Blueberry Jam infused with Lavender is another way to use the flowers, adding a very subtle taste to the jam.

Here's the link to the one I made:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2021/07/blueberry-jam-with-lavender-infusion.html

Or try lavender in baking like these shortbread cookies:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2019/06/honey-and-lavender-shortbread-cookies.html

It's a pretty hardy plant that doesn't need alot of fussing. Cutting the blooms and giving your lavender a "hair cut" will promote more blooms... so more lavender to use in whatever you like! Just leave some for the bees!