Lavender harvesting must be done in time

Is your lavender in full bloom? It should be. Bees and other insects are probably swarming around flowers. In fact, some lavender farms are posting photos of blooming fields on social media. The lavender joy lasts a long time, but do not postpone harvest. You should harvest in time. Now is the time to cut lavender and we shall take a closer look.

When should you cut lavender?

If you have been growing lavender for a long time, you certainly know that you need to cut lavender when flowers are not fully developed yet. Keep in mind that lavender blooms from June to August but you can see beautiful lavender fields early in summer all the way until August.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Proper cutting is very important

Only collect flowers with short stems. Never cut the stem completely and do not damage the woody part of the plant. It must remain intact. You can only clip off stems by hand, but pruning shears are much better. Lavender is the strongest on a hot, sunny day. High temperature makes it rather dry and that is good. You do not want to collect wet herbs.

Photo: Pixabay

Drying is simple

Every lavender farm or grower has its “own” lavender drying method. You need to have a dry and a well-ventilated place. Stems are usually tied into a bundle and hung down, flowers pointing downwards. You may also dry lavender on a baking paper or you may use a fruit dryer. If you do, make sure that the temperature does not exceed 35 degrees Celsius.

Photo: Pixabay

Thousand uses

You can find lavender everywhere. Let us start with lavender food products, which include lavender syrup, which is probably the most common product. Lavender tea is also popular but so are various lavender candies. Lavender is frequently used to repel insects. Bags of dried lavender are used to repel moths for example. There are also many lavender ointments and lavender oils.

Photo: Pixabay

Source:

zavunilevandule.cz, abecedazahrady.dama.cz, levandulovafarma.cz

Preview photo: Pixabay