Lavender & Apples

This season is rich with lavender and apples and are ready to be harvested.

Apples in salads, smoothies, juices, the kids lunch box, applesauce, apple butter, apple pies, apple strudel and baked apples. If you eat pork, frying apples with onions as a side dish is a recipe my family made. The photograph shows a beautiful golden delicious apple tree that my father planted. He would never allow any of the apples to go to waste that dropped before he could pick them. At 91 years of age, I have a photograph of him picking up those apples from the ground.

And of course we can’t forget, bobbing for apples at Halloween parties and sharing with our horses, goats and cattle. The list is endless.

Lavender is another treasure to behold. There are numerous ways to enjoy lavender that might amaze you. Have you ever had lavender cookies, honey or chocolate sauce? Products from Pelindaba Lavender, Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, offers these and other delights. They are listed under the Resources tab on this website for your convenience.

I harvested lavender yesterday to put in bundles and use as fire starters. Makes the house smell divine! You can make lavender sachets and place in your dryer with your clean clothes instead of chemically treated products. One of my all time favorite uses is to crush it in the palm of my head and breathe it in when I have a headache. A headache is caused from constriction and it eases the pain every time. It’s extremely affective when feeling stressed or anxiety. Not only does it smell delicious, it is calming.

According to an herbal guide written by Ed Smith, founder of Herb Pharm, there are other uses for lavender.

Nervousness, worry, depression, sleeplessness, nightmares, nervous stomach, motion sickness and indigestion. As a tonic or dried flowers it can be used as a mild sedative, nerve tonic and anti-depressant. Go to Resources to find the product listed under the heading Herb Pharm.

If you haven’t harvested the lavender in your garden yet, you have a medicine cabinet awaiting you in your garden.