10 October 2009

From the lavender garden

above- French Lavender (lavandula dentata)

Lavender.
My favorite herb.
Here , a bee enjoying it just as much as I.



I use lavender for many different things.
It's an indispensable herb, with a myriad
of uses.
I like to use both the flowers and leaves
of french lavender
in my cold process soap.
Here, a slab of lavender soap,
curing and waiting to cut into bars.....



I also like to use it in sachets ,
in the linen closet, and I even use the english
variety occasionally in cooking.
It also makes a very relaxing tea.




above - Spanish Lavender (lavendula stoechas)

I have three different varieties of lavender
in my garden, all beautiful and unique in their
own right.
She is native to Provence in France, where she grows right
out of the limestone rocks in abundance.
Her appeal is universal and timeless.


'here’s your sweet lavender
sixteen sprigs a penny
that you’ll find my ladies
will smell as sweet as any"

Lavender Sellers’s Cry, London England CA 1900'