Well, it’s lavender harvesting time again here at Happy Acres. My Melissa is the first to bloom and the first to harvest. Here is what I harvested yesterday.
I always hang them to dry which takes several weeks. Last year I tried using bags which worked fine so I’ve done it again but not for every bunch.
Melissa is a mild lavender, great for culinary dishes. I’ve made some delicious shortbread cookies with it. You can find the recipe here.
This lavender could also be used to make lavender sugar. I made mine with Royal Velvet, but Melissa would work great with it too.
Dave made a simple syrup with Melissa to add to tea or pour over fruit, and also a couple other of our lavenders. So far, Melissa syrup is the best. Check out his post here.
I’m planning on using Melissa this summer more in cooking. If you have a lavender recipe you love, please share!
Meanwhile I’ve been harvesting our blueberries. The first to ripen are Patriots and the unknown bush that was here when we moved in. So far I’ve picked almost 5 pounds. We’ve been eating them and I’ve frozen a batch for this winter.
Then I have to show you one of the Chandler berries. They are so huge. They will be the next to ripen. Here is one I picked the other day.
Well, that’s all from the garden for now. Back to the art!
Lynda, I have a couple lavender harvesting questions. Do you harvest the leaves as well? Also, it looks like you harvest the blooms when they are opened, and after they dry, they end up looking like the product (looked like seed) you put into the ziplock bag? Thanks! Lavender is my absolute FAVORITE scent. I didn’t know about the culinary use and Melissa. I can’t wait to try it out.
Darlene, No I do not harvest the leaves – just the stems with the flowers. I wait until the flowers are almost all open and then harvest them by cutting the stems and then hanging them to dry. I hang them in the garage, but it could be done in another area. After they are dry, I remove the flowers from the stems and put them into a ziploc bag, but some people put in glass jars. They look like buds. Great questions! Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Lynda, I’ve been intrigued by the marbling on fabric and although I don’t have much opportunity to do it right now I’ve bookmarked it as a future dalliance. What I’d love to know is what is Melissa? I’ve not heard of it here in New Zealand. Lavender syrup or sugar sounds delicious!
Wendy @ the Late Start Studio recently posted..winter, keeping warm
Hi Wendy! I hope you can take time in the future and marble. It is so much fun. Melissa is the name of a specific English lavender. I just found a New Zealand website that talks about Grosso which I also grow but not for food dishes. When we were in Australia this year, everyone we met said that we needed to see New Zealand so that is on our list for a future trip! Thanks for dropping by.