Lavender Wands

Last year at Weir's Lavender Farm Mia made a lavender wand.  She still has it and it still smells great.  To refresh the fragrance she just rolls it between her palms and it smells fresh as ever.

I thought I would try my hand and patience at making lavender wands.  I am more a big picture kinda person and minutiae can really paralyze and frustrate me.  After a few expletives and finding my lavender zen, I not only made one but four in total.

To start, I gathered 9 lavender flower stems, bundled them so the flowers were aligned then tied a ribbon at the base of the flowers.  I then bent the stems down and over the flowers.  Leave one end of the ribbon hanging down with the flowers.  It should hang down to the end of the stems once they are bent all the way down. You will use this later to wrap around the stem to make a handle.  The other end of the ribbon should be approximately 36" to weave around the lavender.

It's tricky to start the weaving but once you get 2 - 3 rows down it gets easier.

And here is my first effort.  A little messy but not bad.

Here are the next three I made beside the dried lavender.  Each one got better and was easier to make.

For more detailed instructions on how to make a lavender wand check out this site: http://herbanlifestyle.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/how-to-make-lavender-wands/ . If I can follow the instructions, anyone can.

Misha

Lavender Harvest

We are really pleased with our "lavender farm".  The Hidcote lavender we purchased from Weir's Lane Lavender Farm seem to love the location and the soil amendments we did when we planted them.  See our earlier blog for planting description.  We hoped to create a low lavender hedge. We really like how they work with the roses that are blossoming on our homemade trellises.

Our lavender farm

They are beautiful even though they are not yet in full bloom.  We decided to harvest the lavender, nevertheless, as it was just at the right stage to harvest for drying.  We plan to make dried bouquets and it is best to harvest them just before the flowers open into full bloom. To harvest cut the stem as close to the base as possible.

It's a pleasure to harvest; it looks beautiful and smells wonderful!

Next we stripped the leaves off of the stems.  We kept the leaves to use in potpourri and sachets.

Misha stripping the leaves from the stems

We sorted the lavender into 3 categories: Grade A for dried bouquets and lavender wands, short flower stems for sachets and leaves and broken stems for fresh pot potpourri.  Kevin from Weir's Lane Lavender, told us that the leaves and stems don't have much fragrance when dried.

Sorted lavender

The cats helped by guarding the lavender.

Poppy watching over the bundled lavender

Cinnamon on guard

We needed a warm dry place out of the sun to dry the lavender and our stair railing seemed perfect for the job.  I have to admit that after a week the fragrance of lavender was a bit overwhelming.  It's dry now and out in the mud room waiting to be packaged for dried bouquets we will give as gifts.

Lavender drying on stair rail

We look forward to an even bigger harvest next year now that the lavender is well established.  If you have a sunny dry spot in your garden, think about lavender as an option.  It's beautiful, fragrant and useful in many ways.

Lovely lavender!

Misha

Our little lavender farm

Mia has always dreamed of moving to a farm.  When she saw pictures in a magazine of a lavender farm in Provence, France she fell in love with the idea.  She pictured living in an old stone house with a barn, climbing roses and fields of lavender. Something like this.

I had worked on farms in my youth and have a less romantic view of country life, but I thought I would see what I could do to at least capture the spirit of her dream.

The south side of the house, adjacent to the neighbour’s driveway, needed some improvements. We were considering different options for this section and wanted something to go with the roses we had just put up on trellises. 

Mia had read that lavender goes well with roses and I jumped all over the idea.  I looked up how to grow lavender on the web and contacted a grower in Dundas, Ontario.  Kevin, of Weir’s Lane Lavender www.weirslanelavender.ca was really helpful in answering my questions about which variety to purchase and how to plant them.  Kevin recommended going with an English variety of lavender called Hidcote.  It is hardy, has rich purple flowers and does not get too big. 

Hidcote Lavender

To pick up the lavenders, I met Kevin on one of his trips to Toronto at the Fire Hall in the Beach. It felt a bit like a drug deal.  He was standing on the corner with a tray of 10 plants beside some bushes waiting for me. 

Kevin from Weir's Lane Lavender Farm waiting for Misha

The plants were in amazing condition and I was really glad I did not buy the 2 for 1 plants from Sheridan Nurseries.  We plan on visiting his farm on July 14 as part of a 3 farm tour – check out his web site for details.

How we did it:
Lavender likes full sun and sandy well drained soil with little organic material.  It actually does poorly in rich wet soil.  The south facing side of the house is the ideal location to maximize sunlight.  The soil in the area we wanted to plant contains a lot of clay so I decided to amend it for the lavender by adding sand and gravel to improve drainage.

I started by removing the top 1 foot of soil from the planting area and laying it to the side. I then turned the second foot of soil and left it in place.  Next I spread 1 bag of gravel and one bag of sand over this layer. I then replaced the soil I had laid to the side. 

I spread two bags of cement gravel and two bags of sand over the surface then dug it in by turning the soil in the bed.

Mia pitched in to help with the planting.  We measured to ensure the plants were 2 feet apart and one foot away from the driveway edge of the bed. 

We used our last bag of sand and gravel to mulch the plants.  The finished look is great.

Kevin was also impressed by our planting and asked us to send him pictures when they flower in September.  Next year our lavender farm should be blooming from June to September.   A little bit of Provence in Toronto.  Pass the Gratin D’aubergine and Chateauneuf du Pape.  Sante!

Misha