For anyone that has been reading my blog for a while, it will be no news that I am a big fan of lavender. We’ve used it to fragrant, to wash, as cosmetics and to eat. We love to grow it and visit lavender farms. We are big fans.
The different varieties are ready to harvest at slightly different times. I like to harvest during that golden herb picking time of the day. The dew has gone, but the sun is not at its strongest. (It makes a difference to the quality of the lavender.) This morning, the children and I set out for our own mini lavender farm, to harvest the lavender that was ready. It seemed a good day to make lavender wands, or lavender bottles. AJ learnt how to do this last year. This year BL was keen to have a go.
It was a beautiful morning. The fresher the lavender, then the less brittle the stems, so we sat by the lavender and made our lavender wands. Watching the honey bees and bumbles visiting the open flowers. Little people pondering whether the honey would be purple. Checking inside the flower and noting the yellow pollen. Maybe not then.
I love the different lavender varieties. The children are beginning to learn their favourites. BL carefully selected a mixture for one of her wands. Just the way she might have mixed a perfume. Rejecting one and adding more of another, until she had the perfect mix.
Last year, I posted up a “how to make lavender wands” here. This year, after making a batch for the clothes drawers, we went for a twist on the theme. We made some into lavender pencil wands. Although a pen would work just as well.
Once we had made the lavender wand, we pushed the blunt end of a pencil into the middle of the lavender stalks. Right up to meet the lavender flowers.
Wrapped the wool around the pencil, until the wool almost ran out.
Tied off the end and used a needle to pull the end of the wool back through the wrapped wool. Using a sharp pair of scissors, we cut off any lavender stalks that were sticking out.
Then the pencil was ready to be used. Imagine writing with this pencil.
A moment’s pause in writing.
The lavender resting against your nose.
The fragrance released.
Inspiration, or maybe calming feelings.
Go on…. you know you want to make one now.
These are the wands, bottles and pencils we made this morning. Apart from the red one, which is AJ’s from last year. It still smells wonderful and has survived a year in her drawer. A recommendation if I ever heard one!
I loved reading this and the wands are so beautiful. I love lavender too. We have lavender fields quite close to us with a distillery. We visit each year at this time. Just waiting for the best day to go and treat our senses!
Total bliss. The farm we visit is a bit of a drive. Fields full of lavender were more common in Queen Victoria’s time. I want to make it along to the distilling time. Enjoy!
isnt that a co-incidence that we should post about these lavender wands within a day of each other!
They do look lovely. I might have a go myself next year, I have white lavender as well as the mauve kind.
I have to confess I dont especially like the smell, but I have several friends who do and would like one as a gift 😀
Not all lavender smells the same. Yesterday, I was in a friend’s garden and they had a few varieties. We compared two. One was almost citrusy, while the other was more minty. Maybe you haven’t found the right lavender for you yet!