Springtime at Little Lavender Farm | | |
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Happy March Friends! Spring is on the way!
And Happy Anniversary to us!
This month marks the one year anniversary of the establishment of our downtown Newberg shop! I received the keys on March 1 of last year, but in mid March everything in Oregon shut down due to COVID, delaying our opening by a few months. Nevertheless, we forged ahead and here we are one year later! I am so thankful to all of you for your support and good wishes during this last year and look forward to many more (COVID-free) years to come!
To celebrate the changing of the seasons, this newsletter focuses on "Springy" things -- as well as a few ideas for incorporating lavender into your holiday planning! I hope you enjoy this issue! (And should you need any lavender products this month, I hope you'll stop by the shop or visit our website!)
Wishing you all a month full of blossoming trees, daffodils, sunshine, and yes, rain!
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Something Beautiful: Dried Lavender Decor | |
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PC: theletteredcottage.com | | |
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"Pretty Polly" PC: Little Lavender Farm | | |
Something for the Garden: Spanish Lavender | |
Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) is an early blooming lavender that grows well in containers and in the garden. These lavenders add a nice pop of color in the spring and attract beneficial insects and pollinators to your garden. Their distinct “bunny ears” at the top of each bloom set them apart from other lavenders. However, they do like full sun and are drought tolerant, just like other lavenders. This is a very hardy lavender that propagates readily in some parts of the world -- sometimes to the point of becoming invasive. In fact, in Australia they're considered an invasive species and a weed. (How dare they!)
Spanish lavenders are not as well known for their fragrance as the English lavenders. But the blooms can be dried and used for potpourri. They also make beautiful table centerpieces and nice gifts. The variety above is called "Pretty Polly" and is one of my very favorite Spanish lavenders.
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Something Delicious: Lavender Lemon Bars | |
 PC: Little Lavender Farm |
When Mark and I were in graduate school in Davis, CA one of our favorite treats came from the UC Davis Coffeehouse. Thankfully the students there created a coffeehouse cookbook, so we were able to bring those lemon bars with us when we moved. This recipe is an adapted version of that UC Davis coffeehouse recipe, with a lavender twist.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 c white flour
- 1 c wheat flour
- ¼ c powdered sugar
- ¼ c lavender sugar (see below)
Filling
- 4 eggs
- 1 c sugar
- 1 c lavender sugar
- 6 Tb fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tb grated lemon rind
- ¼ c flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
Directions
For the crust: In a large mixing bowl, blend flours and powdered and lavender sugars together. Add butter and mix until a dough forms. Press dough into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 min or until lightly browned.
For the filling: Mix eggs, lavender and regular sugars, lemon juice, and lemon rind. Add flour and baking powder and mix well.
Once the crust is done, pour the lemon/lavender filling onto the crust and then bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min longer or until filling is set.
Sprinkle with confectioners sugar (or lavender sugar if you want a little more lavender taste!)
Lavender Sugar
2 cups sugar
1 Tb culinary lavender
Using a clean coffee grinder, grind the lavender bud. Add 1 cup of sugar and grind more. Add ground sugar/lavender mix to remaining sugar and mix well. Store in an airtight container.
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Something to Make: Egg Shaped Bath Bombs
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These cute bath bombs are a fun alternative to candy in Easter baskets! You can leave them in the plastic eggs, or wrap them in tissue paper or cello. Of course, this recipe can always be used with other traditional round bath bomb molds, but the eggs just makes them extra fun!
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Ingredients:
• 2 cups Baking Soda
• 1 cup Citric Acid
• 1/2 cup epsom salts
• 2 tsp grapeseed oil (or other carrier oil)
• 2 tsp Witch Hazel or lavender hydrosol
• 10-15 drops of Lavender Essential Oil (to your preference)
• Empty plastic Easter eggs
Directions
1. Blend the citric acid, epsom salts, and baking soda in a stand up mixer -- let it go for 8-10 min. This step is really important because if you don’t blend well, you end up with a grainy bomb.
2. Once you’ve blended really well, slowly add the grapeseed oil with the mixer still going at slow speed.
3. Slowly add fragrance oils and blend really well so that the oil is evenly distributed.
4. Now, this is the difficult part. With the mixer is going on medium to medium/high speed, drop your witch hazel just a few drops at a time. Now let the mixer run at high speed for about a minute. The mixture will start looking almost like snow. Check to see if the mixture sticks together when squished -- if it does, you're ready to quickly start putting it in molds. If you wait too long, the mixture will get hard.
5. To fill the molds, first put a few lavender buds in the bottom and then really cram the mixture in there. The harder you pack the bath bombs, the more dense, heavy, and durable bomb you will get.
6. Wait a half hour to an hour and then tap them out. Let them air dry overnight. Put them in a clean egg carton -- and there you have it! The cutest, most relaxing Spring time bath bombs!
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check to see if mixture stays together | | |
Add a few lavender buds for decorations | | |
Really cram the mixture into the eggs | | |
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Something To Think About: Rain | |
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Living most of my life in Southern California, first in the Mojave Desert and then in San Diego, I had always wanted to live someplace where it rained more than twice a year (a slight exaggeration, but not by much). I can remember running outside when it rained, lifting my face up to the sky, and then splashing around in any nearby puddles (even as an adult). I became a bit of a weather geek, watching the forecast religiously, hoping for a "chance of precipitation" in the five-day forecast, and becoming very grumpy if that chance dissipated, as it often did. The light mist of a foggy morning didn’t cut it for me. I wanted rain, real rain, pounding rain, saturating rain. Rain that would soak everything, running off of the house onto the pavement, rain that I could hear on the roof and that made me suck in my breath with the power of it.
When we moved to Oregon, I got my wish. Read More...
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I hope you've enjoyed our March newsletter! Please feel free to send article ideas and I will try to include them in future newsletters.
Pam
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