Today with both a thankful blessing and a sigh of relief, I harvested the last of our lovely lavender flowers at Wildcat Gardens. I am always a bit sad to see the lavender season end. However, the past four weeks have felt like a lavender marathon and it will be nice to slow down a bit. Ben and I grow around 500 bushes of Lavender angustifolia, both the Munstead and Hidcote varieties. The bushes are scattered around the property, some planted in graceful terraces and others amongst other hardy mountain perennials in rowdy beds bursting with color and aromas. We grow over 40 different herbs here on the farm but lavender is my favorite herb child. It thrives without irrigation in Colorado’s arid environment; withstands our tough winters; short, hot summers and poor soil without any fuss. The abundant and hungry wildlife does not eat it, although I have witnessed groups of does lounging in the lavender like privileged princesses. But above all, lavender is so beautiful, fragrant, productive and useful. It fills my spirit every time I see it growing with such purple grace and unconcern in this rugged, mountain environment.
Ben, being the data man that he is, has already crunched the numbers for this season’s lavender harvest. We harvested over 260 pounds of lavender flowers and processed them into over 150 dried lavender bundles, dozens of floral smudge sticks, and our own essential oil and hydrosol. Last year we purchased a larger copper Alembic distiller, four times the size of our previous one. It is a nice upgrade, allowing more efficient use of our time and energy, plus it came with an ‘essencier,’ a complicated copper contraption that separates the oil from the hydrosol. Great! One less job for me to do. We set the distiller up on the patio next to the creek and pond, as we need the cool water for condensing the steam. It is a lovely set up, and we both enjoy the process. The yard and house have smelled divine for the past two weeks while we were distilling. Next week I will start bottling the essential oil and hydrosol. With the ‘big three’ harvests now complete (St. John’s wort, monarda and lavender flowers), the rest of our growing season will be a little more relaxed. I will be able to turn my focus to other chores that have been neglected in the lavender marathon, including blogging. To be continued…