Lavender
Our Methods
At Country Garden Farm we grow primarily Grosso and Royal Velvet Lavender, plus a few other species. We harvest plants from several farms in our corner of the world. All lavender is naturally grown without spray, and we harvest the flowers by hand each year in June and July.
Most of our plants are mature, though we add new starts yearly. It can take up to two years for a lavender plant to produce flowers, usually three before we can bring in a full harvest from the plant. The time it takes for them to mature is well worth the wait, as each plant will yield a harvest each year for more than 10 years.
Though we do provide irrigation for our plants on occasion, we let them grow as naturally as possible without ever using any sprays on them. Come harvest time, we walk the rows, wearing hardy gloves and wielding our sickles.
We cut and bundle the flowers stalks together and tie them with rubber bands. These bunches are then gathered into the barn, where they are paper clipped onto long chains which hang from the ceiling. This elaborate and aromatic display graces our barn for a few weeks, until the lavender is completely dried.
When the drying phase is complete, we begin to process the buds and flowers to make our Country Garden Farm lavender products. We use our still to distill our own lavender essential oil, which is the foundation of many of our products, and we also use the flower buds to make sachets and dried bundles.
Lavender Fun Facts
- Lavender comes from the Latin word lavare, which means “to wash”.
- Romans used the herb in their ritual baths.
- Lavender was used in ancient Egypt in mummification rituals.
- Lavender is known as Spikenard or Nard in the Bible and was used to anoint Jesus’ feet
- Queen Elizabeth used lavender jelly every day at her table, and she also used it as a wash and deodorant.
- During World Wars I and II, lavender was used extensively as a disinfectant
Traditional Uses for Lavender
- Burn salve
- Headache relief
- Sleep aid
- Stress and anxiety reducer
- Acne and Psoriasis aid
- Anti-bacterial and Anti-fungal
- Bug bite salve
- Mosquito, tick, flea, and moth repellant