Which fragrance would whisper in your head...shhhhh....
" You are in Provence , you are in Provence ..."
LAVENDER
Imagine a purple rolling field enveloping an old stone house,
standing alone amongst the beauty...
and me...peddling as fast as I can through these endless lavender
fields - the lavender-laced wind all over my face,
nothing in front of me,
but the waving purple horizon...
Each day I walked to work while La Gringa was in the shop. The early morning smell would beckon me to occasionally stop and pick a few wands of lavender. I was like a bee....choosing different mounds every day....sampling fragrances, pungency, and color. It was a morning treat as I walked along, hoping to spy a new and different lavender each day!
Did you know that lavender is known for its antiseptic and anti-microbial properties and that it is from the mint family?
Did you know that lavender is known for its antiseptic and anti-microbial properties and that it is from the mint family?
Here are some photos of the lavenders I picked...
I love the smell of this pepperminty lavender. Its flowers were on long stalks. Due to its sweet smell, I decided it must be a type of "Sweet Lavender." There are two huge mounds of it in front of a high end shop on Alonso de Cordova. I wonder if the shop owner would let me give both mounds a trimming?
I chose this lavender most days. The pungency would stay on my fingertips during the day. I wondered if it were an English Lavender...since it smelled a lot like the aftershave!
Since there was so much of it, this is the lavender I chose tocut today...there were six huge mounds, so I spent four hours in the sun with my scissors...snipping and snipping...
The smell it left in La Gringa on the drive home was worth the work!
Since there was so much of it, this is the lavender I chose tocut today...there were six huge mounds, so I spent four hours in the sun with my scissors...snipping and snipping...
The smell it left in La Gringa on the drive home was worth the work!
This massive four foot tall display of Spanish Lavender is around the corner from the apartment on Nueva Costanera. Although its showy display is beautiful, there is very little lavender smell about it....
Spanish Lavender up close...Gorgeous! The bees love it!
This is a 4 gallon bucket of lavender cuttings.
Niiiice amount! After taking this bucket home in La Gringa, the odor of it remained through the entire day....
Niiiice amount! After taking this bucket home in La Gringa, the odor of it remained through the entire day....
My bounty...a mop bucket full of stems! Now all I have to do is separate the calyxes from the stems...and then read up on how to properly store fresh picked lavender!
After much deliberation and studing over 100 example photos on the internet, I decided that I had picked a variety called Grosso. Most of the calyxes still had a purple color to them, even though they were mature in various stages of ripening. I believe that if I had picked several weeks ago, the color would be more intense. I am happy with the "smell" ! It is pungent and very lavendery....
Aaaaahhhh....sometimes I dream about putting
COLOR back in my life...
Can you see me owning a shop like this in Fredericksburg?
The Texas Hill Country has sprouted many lavender farms.... In my mind, it is much like Provence...
Could I? Should I? Would you?
Not only are there lots of different varieties of lavender, but there are also hundreds of different molecules responsible for the overall scent. Each smell is different due to relative molecule concentration in each variety, which is based upon the temperature, humidity, UV levels and soil minerals where the individual plant was grown. This plant dependency is very much like growing wine grapes!
Then there's more variety added in by how long the flowers were left on the plant to dry and how they were treated to further dry them or in extracting the oil, further down the process. VERY COMPLICATED process to produce a good lavender....much like a fine wine.
Then there's more variety added in by how long the flowers were left on the plant to dry and how they were treated to further dry them or in extracting the oil, further down the process. VERY COMPLICATED process to produce a good lavender....much like a fine wine.
This recipe is for my friend Helen...who is happiest when making her creams, potions, and scrubs for people she loves.
Now...if I can put some lavender in her life....a miracle could happen! Who knows with that industrious Helen? She could be the next Mary Kay!
What happy little girls we would be running through our own lavender fields!
Lavender fields forever....
Lavender fields forever....
* Sage and Lavender After Shave Lotion *
2 cups witch hazel
2 tablespoons apple cider
1 ounce dried lavender flowers
1ounce dried sage
2 tablespoons apple cider
1 ounce dried lavender flowers
1ounce dried sage
Combine the ingredients in a glass jar and close with a lid for a week.
Shake daily. Remove the herbs and Enjoy!
Shake daily. Remove the herbs and Enjoy!
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