Drying Lavender From My Garden

Although I planted my lavender plant in my herb garden a few years ago it has never been big enough to have more than a handful of flowers over the past few summers. This year my lavender plant has finally come into its own and I have quite a good number of flowers. In fact, the lavender flowers are so bountiful this year that it seemed worthwhile to gather and dry them.

The lavender flowers should be harvested when they are dry and after any morning dew has already evaporated.

It is also good to cut the flowers before they have fully bloomed because then the dried lavender will be more fragrant. Unfortunately due to being out of town a lot of the time this summer I am a little late with gathering my lavender, but I'll just have to make do. I think that my lavender will still be nice.

When cutting the lavender I cut as low down as I could to have the longest stem possible. Once I had cut all the flowers I gathered them into several small bunches and secured them with an elastic band on the end. As the stems dry they can shrink so using something stretchy means they will always stay secured. I then tied a bit of twine to the stems to hang the bunches in a cool, dark place which for me meant a spare closet.

A few weeks from now I should have some nice dried lavender for craft projects or recipes. Do you grow lavender in your garden? Do you dry it?

Comments

[Mary-Lou]

Your Lavender crop looks abundant. I have tried growing Lavender twice, both times unsuccessful - I think I planted it where it did not get all day sun. My neighbour grows and she has shared by making me Lavender sticks - an old fashion method of taking a bunch and bending the flowers inward and weaving ribbon in the stems. I keep by my bedside and tuck under my pillow about an hour before bed and them remove as I snuggled down for the night.

[Lisa]

Mary-Lou- The lavender sticks sound lovely! What a nice gesture from your friend. My lavender is in full sun so I think that is why it has been successful.