Early growth on French Fields lavender at Little Lavender Farm | | |
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Sorry friends! The newsletter I sent yesterday had the wrong link for "The Miracles Under Our Feet." That has been corrected in the version.
June bloom is getting close! The 'French Fields' is starting to show its color and the other angustifolias are getting close. This is a very exciting time of year for lavender farmers because we see our hopes for the season manifesting themselves. It's also a time when our winter losses are made apparent -- and we lost quite a few plants (about 50) due to weather and to my own mistakes. But I never let the mistakes stop me. I see them more as a learning opportunity and a way to get better. So I learn from each season and plant smarter the next time. And I enjoy the plants that are thriving and cherish the beauty around me -- choosing to focus on the good while working to remedy the bad.
Such is life, is it not?
But enough of that. Summer is here! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the plants are growing!
Have a wonderful month!
As always, if you should need any lavender products this month, I hope you'll take a look at our online store or our downtown Newberg shop (see below for a big announcement).
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Strawberry Lavender Frozen Yogurt
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 PC: shortgirltallorder.com |
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons culinary lavender buds
- 4 cups vanilla Greek yogurt
- ½ cup honey
- 2 cups strawberries
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon culinary lavender buds
Instructions
- In a small saucepan set over medium low heat, combine the coconut milk with 2 teaspoons lavender buds. Let lavender buds steep in the milk for 20 minutes. Do not simmer or boil milk. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. When cool, pass through a fine sieve to remove buds.
- In another saucepan, combine the strawberries, lemon juice and ½ teaspoon lavender buds with ⅓ cup water. Cook strawberries over medium heat until berries breakdown and thicken. Remove from heat and pass through a fine sieve. Let the strawberry puree cool to room temperature.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat the yogurt, milk and honey on medium speed until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the berry puree. Mix an additional minute until combined.
- Pour mixture into freezer bowl of your ice cream machine and follow your manufacturer's instructions. Mix until thickened.
Serve soft or transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze for an hour or two.
(Adapted from aclassictwist.com)
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Strawberries with Lavender Yogurt Cream | |
Here's a fun fact: Strawberries and cream is a Wimbledon tradition dating back to 1877 when just 200 spectators came to see the matches (I did not know this). Today, according to the official Wimbledon website, over 2600 gallons of cream and over 61,000 pounds of strawberries are eaten at the tournament each year. So to celebrate the start of Wimbledon at the end of this month, here is a lavender twist on the classic strawberries and cream.
(Source: walesonline.co.uk)
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Ingredients
1 pound fresh strawberries, stemmed and cut into sixths
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon lavender sugar (see below)
1 cup greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons creme fraiche or heavy cream
1 tablespoon lavender honey (see below)
6 sprigs of lavender (for garnish)
Directions
- Chill 6 dessert goblets by placing them in the refrigerator.
- Combine the strawberries, vinegar and lavender sugar; stir gently. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Just before serving, combine the yogurt and creme fraiche (or heavy cream) in a bowl and whisk gently, adding 1 tablespoon of lavender honey, or to taste. The mixture will remain quite firm.
- Spoon the strawberries into goblets and top with the Lavender Yogurt Cream. Garnish each goblet with a sprig of lavender.
(Recipe found in Discover Cooking with Lavender by Kathy Gerht)
Lavender Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
- Put lavender buds and 1/4 c of the sugar into spice grinder or clean coffee grinder; blend for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is a soft powder.
- Add the lavender buds and sugar mixture to the remaining 1 ¾ cup sugar
- Place sugar mixture in a container with a tight fitting lid. Allow to sit for three days before using to infuse the sugar with the lavender flavor.
- As a variation, you can make lavender sugar by layering the lavender buds and sugar in a jar and then straining out the buds when you use the sugar, or place whole sprigs of lavender in a jar with sugar.
Lavender-infused Honey
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine honey and dried lavender buds in an 8-ounce jar.
- Cover the jar and let the honey sit on your kitchen counter for about a week; this allows the lavender to release its flavor.
- Every day for a week, turn the jar upside down to keep the buds submerged in the lavender. They will have a tendency to float to the top, so turning the jar over once a day will keep the buds covered with honey.
- After 1 week, remove and discard the lavender buds by filtering honey through a fine strainer (or several layers of cheesecloth) into a clean jar. Cover and store at room temperature.
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As I write this, our little shop is in transition. John Peterson and Jeremi Carroll of Pollinate Flowers have been my shop partners for the last two+ years and I have grown to love, respect, and admire them -- and consider them dear friends. Unfortunately (for me anyway), they have decided to move on from the shop into another direction with their business, focusing more on events and online sales -- while also focusing more on what they love and why they started their farm to begin with ...back to their roots, if you will. As you read my first introduction to them below (from about 4 years ago), you will see that passion on full display. I will miss our day to day interactions, but I know that they will always be in my life. They are two of the best humans I've ever known and wish them all the success in the world.
(Little Lavender Shop will remain in the same location in downtown Newberg, with even more lavender offerings coming soon!)
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The Miracles Under Our Feet | |
A healthy root system at Pollinate Flowers in Dundee | | |
One of the things I love about living in the beautiful hills of Dundee, is the many talented, passionate, creative people who live here as well. Our next door neighbor Bryan, put in a vineyard, a mini golf course, and a zipline, Lanette makes beautiful art, Dennis makes furniture out of reclaimed barnwood and wine barrels, and just down the road and around the corner live John and Jeremi, the talented duo behind Pollinate Flowers. They are also big proponents of permaculture, creating on their farm a beautiful, healthy food forest.
I knew a little bit about companion planting, and permaculture from previous reading and experiences, but I had never heard of a food forest before -- until I saw their posts on social media. I was first drawn to Pollinate Flowers because of their beautiful Instagram pictures, but what really hooked me were the insights and wisdom that went along with the pictures. Both the lessons they shared and the love that went into their project were captivating. And because I not only want to learn more about permaculture and food forests, but also want to meet more of my talented neighbors, I sent them a message, asking if I might barge in on them sometime to see their work. Thankfully they said yes, so on a cloudy and cool fall Monday morning in November, I headed down the street to meet them and see what they were up to.
It turns out they are up to quite a lot, actually. In the time that they have lived there, John and Jeremi have transformed a manicured, park-like, grass field into a beautifully diverse compilation of both flowers and rowed plantings of lettuce, fennel, broccoli, collards, etc, surrounded by meandering paths lined with lime balm, thyme, redwood sorrel, dahlias, love-in-a-mist, ginkgo, hawthorn, and many many other trees, perennials, flowers, shrubs, and herbs. A food forest, full of life and diversity. There are also bat boxes and bird boxes scattered about, a beautiful, tall arbor that supports grapes, a fire pit, and tucked away places to sit and contemplate. And as we walked and talked, we also sampled many of the gifts of the land. I ate my first Dahlia (it tastes like carrots), nibbled on a cornflower, and inhaled the sweet scent of lime balm. I was in heaven. But it wasn’t all chatting and eating flowers -- there were lessons to be learned. And here are a few: Read More....
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I hope you've enjoyed our June newsletter! Feel free to forward our newsletter to any lavender-loving friends who you think might enjoy it!
Pam
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