In attempts  to keep myself busy so as to not let worrisome thoughts of moving enter my mind I have been puttering around the garden taking note of what plants will come with us if we do indeed move.

A few days ago I went ahead and harvested all four of my lavender plants, all of which happen to be Lavandula intermedia ‘Grosso’. Truly a most ugly name for my favorite variety of lavender if you were to ask me.

Grosso has nice long stems for hanging up to dry or for making lavender wands. I also find its fragrance to be one of the best. But that is my opinion.

This particular lavender harvest has been 3 years in the making. Three years ago I planted little lavender cuttings and carried for them like the little babies they were. Then last year I willfully refrained from harvesting too much instead allowing the plant to grow big and healthy. This year I have been rewarded and the plants are bursting forth with beautiful blooms that the bumble bees are finding irresistible.

{I do feel so guilty when I harvest flowers that the bees just adore. I just can’t help but apologize to them.}

I was able to harvest 5 bundles of lavender off of my 4 plants. Not too bad really!

They are now hanging up in my kitchen drying and filling the house with their intoxicating scent.

I adore the lavender blooms as much as the bees I think!

Summer is sure flying by and I seem to be as busy as ever these days. I had originally wanted to write this post a couple of weeks ago but just could not seem to find the time to pull it all together. Better late than never though so here goes!

One weekend last month my family and I took advantage of the beautiful U-pick farms out by us. We paid a visit to a U-pick blueberry farm as well as a lavender farm that was having a U-pick (or more like U-cut) weekend to go along with their lavender festival. Some readers might remember this lavender farm from my post on it last summer. It is one summer daytrip I always look forward to.

There is nothing more enjoyable then harvesting your own lavender from those fields a buzz with bees. This particular lavender farm has the most beautiful views of both Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. The lavender combined with those views is very peaceful and relaxing.

Even though I posted quite a bit of pictures from this lavender farm last year I just could not resist posting some more.

The blueberry farm we paid a visit to that same day was equally as beautiful as the lavender farm. I do not think there is an area of the Hood River Valley that is not breathtakingly beautiful! The whole valley is a feast for the senses.

The blueberry farm also had an incredible view of Mt. Hood. Can you imagine waking up to this view everyday?

The kids had so much fun filling our buckets with blueberries. My now almost 3 year old daughter also had a blast running up and down the rows while stealing samples of the sun warmed berries. I was in love with how gorgeous the berries were hanging from those pretty shrubs. I almost spent more time photographing the berries than actually picking them! My boys and husband made up for my slow picking though. I was amazed by how much they were able to pick.

We came home with so many berries we were able to not only eat them fresh but I was also able to can several quarts of blueberry pie filling on top of sun drying some during that ridiculous heat wave we recently had.

I also was inspired by all the lavender we picked and came up with an interesting twist on making blueberry jam. I ended up making several jars of blueberry lavender jam. Everyone seems to like it too.

To make the blueberry lavender jam I basically followed the directions that came with my box of pectin. The only thing different I did was I placed several fresh lavender flower tops (10-12) into a mesh tea ball infuser. I then placed this lavender filled tea ball into the jam and kept it there while everything was brought to a boil. When it was time to ladle the jam into my jars I simply removed the tea ball. The jam turned out really good and has just a slight hint of lavender to it. Nothing overwhelming or too much; it is more like an afterthought than a pronounced flavor.

This summer has certainly been the summer of U-pick farms and canning for us. We hope to get out to the farms in the next week or so for the peaches and that will be followed by the pears. After the pears comes the apples and that is what I am really looking forward to. I hope to make lots of applesauce, apple butter, and pie filling. I am attempting to gather up some recipes for the peaches, pears and apples so if anyone knows of some good ones I am all ears!

As I struggle to keep this blog up to date I hope all my readers out there are enjoying their summer as much as I am.

Yesterday I posted about taking my kids to a beautiful lavender farm out in the Hood River Valley. Today I thought I would add to that post by including some really easy ways I use lavender through out my house. I love lavender and try to find as many ways to use it as I can. I hope everyone else enjoys some of these easy lavender ideas.

Lavender Linen Water

Lavender linen water is so simple to make I can’t believe I actually see it for sale. Save some money and make it for yourself and gifts for friends. Add several drops lavender essential oil to some distilled water. Pour into a glass bottle(s) and tie some ribbon and dried lavender flower spikes to it for a pretty presentation.

This water can be used in a steam iron or pour some into a spray bottle and lightly spray your linens and towels with it before folding and putting away. Or lightly spray your pillow and linens before settling in bed for the night. Sweet lavender dreams are sure to follow!

Lavender Sugar

Lavender sugar is just as easy to make as the linen water. (This can actually be done with numerous herbs such as lemon balm, scented geraniums, etc.) You simply layer sugar with lavender flower spikes, either fresh or dried, in a glass jar. Leave the sugar to infuse with lavender for a few weeks.

Another method is even easy than the one mentioned above but I have not tried this method so I can not say if the results are as good or not. For this method you place some dried lavender buds and sugar in a food processor or blender and mix until the lavender is finally ground.

Try the lavender sugar in iced tea or even better use in a sugar cookie recipe!

Herbes de Provence

This well known herb mix gets its unique flavor from the lavender in it. It’s really easy to mix together and is great to have in the winter for flavoring soups, sauces, and stews. Also, it makes a lovely gift from the garden if you happen to grow all the herbs yourself (or even if you don’t!). 

To make simply mix together equal parts dried rosemary, savory, thyme, and lavender.

So there you go, three fairly easy ways of incorporating one of the most well loved herbs into your home. Enjoy!