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! 

DIY Flower Tower

Add a splash of colour with this tower of flowers! Vertical gardening gives you more space to plant and can add eye-catching interest.

Supplies needed:

Large pot

Smaller plastic pot that fits inside large one

Tomato cage

Plastic snow fencing

Plastic drain pipe

Duct tape

Black garden fabric

Tie wraps

Gardening soil

Fertilizer (I used hen manure)

Flower transplants (I used 24 for this one)

Scissors and snips

First place the small plastic pot upside down in the bottom of the large one. Then fill around with soil (I used some old soil in the pot because no plants will be in this part). Next duct tape the bottom of the drain pipe, cut a few slits in it all the way up, then stand it in the pot on top of the overturned small one. This will help add moisture to the tower of flowers as well as using up a little space in the middle so less weight. I must tell you though that when this thing is filled it's still mighty heavy! Make sure you build it where you want it !!!

Add more soil to almost fill the pot and secure the drain pipe in place with soil.

Most towers I've seen on the internet use wire fencing, but I like to use what I have around instead of buying more stuff. I took some plastic snow fencing and wrapped the tomato cage with it, overlapping a bit and securing with tie wraps. Then I stood the tower in the pot with the tomato cage's prongs straddling the small upturned pot.

I then measured out the black garden fabric to go about 1 1/2 times around the tower, overlapping to prevent soil from leaking out. And make sure there is enough fabric that can be tucked over the top of the fencing and secured as well. Again, in examples I've seen the fabric is placed on the inside of the tower. But I found that to be a hassle so I just wrapped the outside and poked holes through the fabric at the tomato cage rings to secure the fabric to the tower with tie wraps as you can see in the photo below. Use snips to cut off excess from the tie wraps.

Looking inside you can see that I covered the top of the drain pipe with a piece of fabric and held it in place with a clothespin so that it didn't fill with soil. Now start filling the tower and gently water the soil down 2 or 3 times while filling. Add fertilizer to the soil too

Once filled cut crosses in fabric (you may need to snip the plastic fencing sometimes too), make a hole in the soil with you fingers then slide the transplant in. I used mostly petunias, with some begonias because hubby wanted them, and sweet potato vine on top.

I had this bamboo stick supporting the tower because it is top heavy. Even with the drain pipe and small plastic pot giving some air space this baby is H E A V Y!

But then we removed the bamboo sticks after deciding to secure the tower to a garden post with heavy wire. Fill the top of the planter tucking in the excess fabric, secure with ties and add plants to the top.

I like the look of the fabric on the outside rather than having it inside with the fencing showing, but it won't matter anyways once these beauties fill out!

A few weeks later...

and mid July. Should I have used more transplants and planted closer together?

Dried Nasturtium and Nasturtium Capers

Not only are these nasturtiums beautiful to look at, but the flowers are edible, whether you use them fresh from the garden or dried.

Cut the flowers leaving a good length of stem so that you can tie them together.  But first run them under cool water to clean.  Very important! I actually found a little green worm hiding inside one of the flowers! Gently shake out the excess water and lay on a towel to pat dry.

Tie with kitchen string and hang to dry for a couple of weeks. Here they are in between the almost-ready-to-crumble mint.

Once dried like this

remove from stems and crumble the petals like this.

Store them for later use as garnish or mild peppery seasoning.

You can make Nasturtium capers too! Just go out into the garden and harvest the little green seed pods.

I started with a very small batch for my first attempt at capers but next year I'll be making a lot more of these pickled beauties!

1/4 cup Nasturtium seed pods
9 tbsps cold water (divided in 1/3)
1  1/2 tsp coarse salt (divided in 1/3)

1/8 cup white wine vinegar
pinch or 2 of sugar
bay leaf
thyme

Place the seed pods in a glass container and add 3 tbsps cold water to cover and 1/2 tsp coarse salt. Set aside uncovered for a day. It will be a bit smelly, like a mild rotten egg smell. I kept my capers in the garage because I was warned of this but it really wasn't that bad. Drain and rinse each day for 2 more days brining in water and salt each day for a total of 9 tbsps water and 1  1/2 tsp salt.

On the fourth day drain and rinse the pods then pack them gently into a jar.  Add a bay leaf and some thyme. Bring the white wine vinegar and sugar to a boil and add to the jar and seal. Process in a hot water bath for 1o minutes.  
So there you have it......FREE CAPERS!

And you can use the rest of the seed pods you gather to save and plant next year to start all over again. 

Here's a link for Nasturtium Vinaigrette:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2015/11/nasturtium-vinaigrette.html

You might also like to try this Chicken Marbella with capers:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2013/11/chicken-marbella.html