My love for Lavender

I've taken the time to harvest some lavender from my garden today. I always have time for lavender, these flowers are truly one of my all time favourites. I love the fact they have so many uses. Not only are they a visual wonder, they are delightfully fragrant and taste wonderful too when used as a herb.

My very first encounter with lavender was at nine-years-old during a sewing lesson. We were shown how to make a heart-shaped cushion filled with scented French lavender. Watching my mother's eyes light up and how thrilled she was when I came home from school and gave it to her. My love affair with lavender began. Whatever happened to lavender-scented pouches anyway? Someone out there needs to bring them back into fashion!

So here I am with the gathered bunches splayed out on my pallet table ready for drying. Even at this stage when the season is coming to an end, I'm being careful about not cutting it all back, and making sure I leave some behind for Mr Bumbles. Then I'm going to bunch them up and tie them together with some jute string and hang them upside down. It will hopefully see me through the cold and wintry months when there's not much going on in our garden.

Lavender is also great crushed up with oatmeal and used as a bath salt. Simply whizz it up along with some oatmeal using a hand-held whisk and store it in an air-tight jar (you can mix it up with some magnesium salt if you prefer). Then sprinkle about a palm-full into a hot running bath. It's nourishing for the skin and soothes the soul. Oh the lovely lavendula!