January Newsletter

January 2021 Friends, words cannot express my gratitude for your support and encouragement this year. It was scary opening a brick and mortar business at the beginning of a pandemic, but you were there cheering us on every step of the way, both at the shop and online. I am so grateful for both our local friends and for our friends all over the country who have supported this small farm and allowed me to take my lavender dream and make it a reality. Please check out Little Lavender Farm's online store if you are looking for lavender products! If you're local to Newberg Oregon, you can even order online for pickup or book an appointment. We continue to take all the necessary precautions to make your visit safe! Happiest of New Years! Something Beautiful: Winter at the Farm Something Delicious: Provence Potato Soup PC: The X Pat Dietitian I found this recipe in a sweet little lavender cookbook titled Discover Cooking with Lavender by Kathy Gehrt. And some nice warm soup seems like the perfect food right about now. Ingredients: 3 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 in. pieces 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic minced 2 carrots, finely chopped 2 celery stalks, finely chopped 2 tsps herbes de Provence (recipe here) 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock 3 pounds (about 4 cups) russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes 2 Tb chives (optional) Directions 1. Cook bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat for about 5 minutes 2. Sautes onions, garlic, carrots, and celery in the bacon fat. Add herbes de Provences, salt, and pepper. Cook until vegetables are soft, about 7 minutes. 3. Add stock and bring mixture to a boil 4. Add the potatoes and return to a boil. Allow mixture to cook for 3 minutes, stirring often. 5. Reduce heat and let mixture simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are soft, and can be easily pierced with a fork, about 20 min. 6. Serve in small bowls and garnish with chives, if desired. Enjoy! Something Cozy: Lavender Hot Cocoa PC: Sage Creation Organic Farm (Adapted from Kathy Gehrt's recipe in her book Discover Cooking with Lavender) Ingredients 3 c preferred milk 1 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips 1 Tb dark cocoa powder 2 Tb lavender sugar (see recipe below) 1/8 tsp salt 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Directions 1. Pour milk into a medium saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. 2. Whisk in chocolate chips until melted. 3. Return saucepan to medium heat and whisk in cocoa powder, lavender sugar, and salt until dissolved and blended. Add vanilla. 4. Pour into mugs and top with your favorite hot cocoa topping! Makes 3 servings Lavender Sugar Ingredients 1 Tb culinary lavender buds 2 c. granulated sugar Directions 1. Put lavender buds and 1/4 c of the sugar into spice grinder or clean coffee grinder and blend until mixture is powdery. (about a minute) 2. Add this mixture to the remaining sugar in a container with a tight-fitting lid 3. Allow mixture to sit for 3 days so that lavender can infuse the sugar Something Crafty: DIY Neck Wrap This is one of my favorite products to make and to use. I am still using the original neck wrap I made 4 years ago and especially on these cold winter days, it serves the dual purpose of soothing aching muscles and warming you up! If you aren't a sewer, these neck wraps can also be purchased at our shop and online store. (More coming soon) Supplies 6 x17 piece of your favorite cotton fabric 6 x17 piece of coordinating flannel fabric scissors 3 c rice (or you can do a rice flax seed combo that adds up to 3 cups) 4-5 Tb lavender buds Directions 1. Place material pieces, right sides together and pin in place 2. Sew around the edges, leaving a 3-4 inch opening. Cut corners 3. Turn sewn fabric right side out and iron. 4. Fill with rice/lavender bud mix 5. Turn under fabric of the opening and pin in place 6. Sew opening closed, sewing end to end. Sew again for extra strength and durability. Directions for use : Heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes (check after 1 minute). Shake to distribute heat. (Hint: When the lavender buds loose their fragrance, just a drop or two fo lavender essential oil on each end of the wrap before you put it in the microwave does the trick!) Place on neck or on aching muscles and enjoy! Something Useful: Dryer Sachets PC Town and Country Living Lavender imparts such a clean, fresh scent to everything it touches and a quick and easy way to give your laundry this wonderful scent is by using lavender dryer sachets. These are available at many retail stores, or if you have some lavender bud, you can make your own! Supplies Heat-sealing tea bags Dried lavender buds Cotton Muslin bag Directions 1. Loosely fill tea bags with lavender buds 2. Iron the open side of the tea bag closed, holding the iron on teh bag end for about 10 seconds. 3. Insert filled tea bag into muslin bag and pull string tight, double knotting to make sure lavender buds don't escape. 4. To turn this into a cute gift, you can decorate the muslin bag with your favorite stamp or make your own bags with your favorite cotton material. Something To Think About: 2020 Lessons and Resolutions I’ve started and stopped a few different essays for this month’s newsletter...one on the importance of honesty, one on growth mindset, one on what we all can learn from 2020. But none of them seemed quite right. It’s easy for me to sit here in my comfy warm living room and pontificate about what WE can learn from this experience, but everything I wrote rang hollow. There are so many people who lost so much this last year-- family, friends, relationships, jobs, homes, community. So it feels quite arrogant for me to think I have anything worthwhile to say that could sum up our collective experiences with 2020, because they have been wildly different. Sure, there are some common experiences -- zoom calls, empty toilet paper shelves, or the struggle to find the right mask. But as far as lessons learned, that is a very individual experience. So I guess all I can really do that feels authentic is to share what I’ve learned, and hope that it resonates with a few of you out there -- recognizing that my experience is very different than that of so many others. So here are just a few of the many lessons I am learning. Lesson 1: The Little Things Every year at Christmas time, our good friend Scott sends out a Christmas letter unlike any Christmas letter I’ve ever received. In it, he chronicles the little things...things he noticed about his wife or kids that made him proud or made him laugh (usually the latter) -- things like maybe how his daughter pirouettes down the hallway or the way his son lays down next to the Malibu lights in their yard. This year, I am learning to be more like Scott...to notice and appreciate the little things. Bright pink sunrises, fresh green eggs, drizzly walks,the gift of art, the joy of Lauren’s shepherd’s pie, tuna sandwiches heavy on the relish with Mark, ridiculous zoom calls with my boys, Rammus’ specific bark when he sees Lauren. I resolve to continue to notice and cherish these small joys once things get busy again. Read more... I hope you've enjoyed our January newsletter! Please feel free to send article ideas and I will try to include them in future newsletters. Pam ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

January 2021

Friends, words cannot express my gratitude for your support and encouragement this year. It was scary opening a brick and mortar business at the beginning of a pandemic, but you were there cheering us on every step of the way, both at the shop and online. I am so grateful for both our local friends and for our friends all over the country who have supported this small farm and allowed me to take my lavender dream and make it a reality.

Please check out Little Lavender Farm's online store if you are looking for lavender products! If you're local to Newberg Oregon, you can even order online for pickup or book an appointment. We continue to take all the necessary precautions to make your visit safe!

Happiest of New Years!

Something Beautiful: Winter at the Farm

Something Delicious: Provence Potato Soup

PC: The X Pat Dietitian

I found this recipe in a sweet little lavender cookbook titled Discover Cooking with Lavender by Kathy Gehrt. And some nice warm soup seems like the perfect food right about now.

Ingredients:

3 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 in. pieces
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic minced
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 tsps herbes de Provence (recipe here)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
3 pounds (about 4 cups) russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes
2 Tb chives (optional)

Directions
1. Cook bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat for about 5 minutes

2. Sautes onions, garlic, carrots, and celery in the bacon fat. Add herbes de Provences, salt, and pepper. Cook until vegetables are soft, about 7 minutes.

3. Add stock and bring mixture to a boil

4. Add the potatoes and return to a boil. Allow mixture to cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.

5. Reduce heat and let mixture simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are soft, and can be easily pierced with a fork, about 20 min.

6. Serve in small bowls and garnish with chives, if desired. Enjoy!

Something Cozy: Lavender Hot Cocoa

PC: Sage Creation Organic Farm

(Adapted from Kathy Gehrt's recipe in her book Discover Cooking with Lavender)

Ingredients

3 c preferred milk
1 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 Tb dark cocoa powder
2 Tb lavender sugar (see recipe below)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Pour milk into a medium saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

2. Whisk in chocolate chips until melted.

3. Return saucepan to medium heat and whisk in cocoa powder, lavender sugar, and salt until dissolved and blended. Add vanilla.

4. Pour into mugs and top with your favorite hot cocoa topping!

Makes 3 servings

Lavender Sugar

Ingredients

1 Tb culinary lavender buds

2 c. granulated sugar

Directions

1. Put lavender buds and 1/4 c of the sugar into spice grinder or clean coffee grinder and blend until mixture is powdery. (about a minute)

2. Add this mixture to the remaining sugar in a container with a tight-fitting lid

3. Allow mixture to sit for 3 days so that lavender can infuse the sugar

Something Crafty: DIY Neck Wrap

This is one of my favorite products to make and to use. I am still using the original neck wrap I made 4 years ago and especially on these cold winter days, it serves the dual purpose of soothing aching muscles and warming you up! If you aren't a sewer, these neck wraps can also be purchased at our shop and online store. (More coming soon)

Supplies

6 x17 piece of your favorite cotton fabric
6 x17 piece of coordinating flannel fabric
scissors
3 c rice (or you can do a rice flax seed combo that adds up to 3 cups)
4-5 Tb lavender buds

Directions

1. Place material pieces, right sides together and pin in place

2. Sew around the edges, leaving a 3-4 inch opening. Cut corners

3. Turn sewn fabric right side out and iron.

4. Fill with rice/lavender bud mix

5. Turn under fabric of the opening and pin in place

6. Sew opening closed, sewing end to end. Sew again for extra strength and durability.

Directions for use: Heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes (check after 1 minute). Shake to distribute heat.

(Hint: When the lavender buds loose their fragrance, just a drop or two fo lavender essential oil on each end of the wrap before you put it in the microwave does the trick!)

Place on neck or on aching muscles and enjoy!

Something Useful: Dryer Sachets

PC Town and Country Living

Lavender imparts such a clean, fresh scent to everything it touches and a quick and easy way to give your laundry this wonderful scent is by using lavender dryer sachets. These are available at many retail stores, or if you have some lavender bud, you can make your own!

Supplies

Heat-sealing tea bags
Dried lavender buds
Cotton Muslin bag

Directions

1. Loosely fill tea bags with lavender buds

2. Iron the open side of the tea bag closed, holding the iron on teh bag end for about 10 seconds.

3. Insert filled tea bag into muslin bag and pull string tight, double knotting to make sure lavender buds don't escape.

4. To turn this into a cute gift, you can decorate the muslin bag with your favorite stamp or make your own bags with your favorite cotton material.

Something To Think About:

2020 Lessons and Resolutions

I’ve started and stopped a few different essays for this month’s newsletter...one on the importance of honesty, one on growth mindset, one on what we all can learn from 2020. But none of them seemed quite right. It’s easy for me to sit here in my comfy warm living room and pontificate about what WE can learn from this experience, but everything I wrote rang hollow. There are so many people who lost so much this last year-- family, friends, relationships, jobs, homes, community. So it feels quite arrogant for me to think I have anything worthwhile to say that could sum up our collective experiences with 2020, because they have been wildly different. Sure, there are some common experiences -- zoom calls, empty toilet paper shelves, or the struggle to find the right mask. But as far as lessons learned, that is a very individual experience.

So I guess all I can really do that feels authentic is to share what I’ve learned, and hope that it resonates with a few of you out there -- recognizing that my experience is very different than that of so many others. So here are just a few of the many lessons I am learning.

Lesson 1: The Little Things

Every year at Christmas time, our good friend Scott sends out a Christmas letter unlike any Christmas letter I’ve ever received. In it, he chronicles the little things...things he noticed about his wife or kids that made him proud or made him laugh (usually the latter) -- things like maybe how his daughter pirouettes down the hallway or the way his son lays down next to the Malibu lights in their yard. This year, I am learning to be more like Scott...to notice and appreciate the little things. Bright pink sunrises, fresh green eggs, drizzly walks,the gift of art, the joy of Lauren’s shepherd’s pie, tuna sandwiches heavy on the relish with Mark, ridiculous zoom calls with my boys, Rammus’ specific bark when he sees Lauren. I resolve to continue to notice and cherish these small joys once things get busy again.