Last week we took a family jaunt out to a lavender farm about an hour away. We thought checking out the lavender festival going on that day would be a fun day-trip to do with the kids and would make some new & different kinda memories.
There were backcountry and fun hippie-folk artisans of every variety peddling their wares. There were food vendors selling all kinds of food featuring lavendar as the main ingredient… lavender lemonade, corn on the cob sprinkled with lavender – you name it!
But what we all enjoyed most was picking our own lavendar fresh from the earth to take home with us. That was a first for us, so of course we marked the occasion with some pictures. We learned the best way to cut lavender is to cut two stems down from the top, so that the remaining plant is kept well preserved.
I’ve always loved herbs of all kinds, but lavender is definitely one of my favorite herbs. Not only is it beautiful, but it has dozens of uses. It is a fragrant and relaxing aromatic, and it can be used in baking, lotion making, gourmet cooking, tea making, tinctures and much more.
Lavender also has some compelling but often overlooked properties including:
- Antidepressant
- Analgesic
- Antiseptic
- Cicatrizant
- Expectorant
- Nervine
- Vulnerary
All this is to say, I was excited to bring home some fresh-cut lavendar to use around the house! I plan to make homemade lavender sachets with the girls soon, but first we had to make the classic lavender lemonade.
Now here is where you get to learn from my mistakes 😉 There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to go about making lavender lemonade. You know all those pretty pictures you see of the classic lavender buds floating in the lemonade pitcher? Ok so, it’s really not as simple as making a pitcher of lemonade and throwing in the buds. Take it from me and don’t try to shortcut the process, as the end result is nothing like what you’ll get if you do it the real way. Enough said 🙂
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon dried lavender or 10 -12 drops lavender essential oil
- 2-1/2 cups cold water
- 1 cup lemon juice
- Ice cubes
Directions
- In a large saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil. Remove from the
- heat; add lavender. Cover and let stand for 1 hour.
- Strain, discarding any lavender flowers. Stir in cold water and lemon juice.
- Serve over ice.
That looks like a fun day! Thanks for sharing your recipe for lavender lemonade. It sounds very refreshing!
It was a fun day : ) Thanks for stopping by, Theresa!
I love learning different ways to use herbs! I don’t have any lavendar in my garden yet. I’m not sure if it grows here, but I will have to try it. Last year I planted echinecea and lemon balm and was told that neither of those will grow here, but I must have found a good spot to plant them because they both came back this spring! Maybe lavendar would be the same 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Love that, thanks for sharing! I’m so glad you stopped by here at She Lives Free – I was just visiting your blog and discovered we have homeschooling and a love of gardening in common! Hope to stay in touch, have a great week : )
I never thought of using lavender in lemonade!
I know! That’s why I love stepping into someone else’s world for a day, to see how they do things : ) I love learning something new every day!
I saw your Lavender Lemonade recipe on Pinterest and felt compelled to encourage you to use essential oils safely. Essential oils are NOT a food additive. They are very concentrated and when taken internally can cause harm. I know some companies claim their oils can be taken orally, but this is not safe. For lavender flavor, you can find lavender syrups online that are made for culinary use, as well as dried culinary lavender. Thank you!