Lavender Harvest
A Crazy Covid Idea
Two years ago I had a milestone birthday. Number 60!
It occured during Covid lockdown so celebrating the big day was a bit “limited”.
So…I decided it would be fun to make a “birthday” flower bed and fill it with lavender plants. 26 plants to be exact.
Fast forward two years….it’s now 2022…the lavender plants flourished and I’m beginning to question my decision!
Twenty six plants created an abundance of lavender. It looks gorgeous…but it also needs to be harvested! My birthday flower bed is now a huge amount of work!
In the field
Can you find the lavender visitor?
For additional color this year, I planted several Autumn Joy plants between the lavender plants. I love the combination and they will bloom in the Fall after the lavender has had its moment in the spotlight.
Harvesting
The work begins! Electric hand trimmer for the win this year!
Making bundles as we go.
Bees buzzing everywhere…
…even on the harvested blooms…they just don’t want to give it up!
Drying Lavender
Our harvest was bountiful this year and it required some creative thinking….so we made a lavender drying hammock.
We used a large piece of deer netting for the hammock and Tim attached each end of it to his welding tables.
Air flow was good and the heavy tables kept the net from collapsing under the weight of the lavender.
Hattie helped us harvest, make bundles, and fill the lavender hammock. It was truly a family project!
Then…we went on vacation for 4 weeks!
When we returned it was dry!
I crushed and sifted two gallons for sachets.
And then I made more bundles….SO MANY BUNDLES!
I also dried yellow daisy flowers and added them to some of the bundles…
and the leftover lavender stems were made into firestarters for a friend.
What I learned…
Lavender is beautiful when it blooms and is low maintenance most of the year.
It does not require water in our area and therefore it was a good option for the location..ie..no irrigation required.
Harvesting and drying 26 plants is a ton of work and you need a lot of space for that process.
I need a streamline plan before next years harvest!
Skip the hammock idea and make everything into hanging bundles. One and done!
Think carefully about the long term consequences of my next great birthday idea!
Lavender bundles are difficult to mail but if you are in the Vancouver area and would like a few bundles…let me know!
Lavender Sachets
$14.00
