Lavender. What do you do with it?

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

I mean, to dry it so you can use it.

Is this the right time of year?

Apparently it's best cut just before the flowers open fully and left to dry hanging in a cool darkish place.

That way it keeps most of its oils, or something. I never get round to that so just cut it dry off the plant. Not quite so smelly, no doubt, but good enough for me.

Do you need to put it in a paper bag or something to stop the buds falling off?

It makes a lovely air freshener in the car (only you have to keep crumbling it, & it gets a bit messy after a while )

Have never understood why people need air fresheners in the car. What on earth are they all doing in there? Don't they ever open the window?

And wouldn't lavender be a bit unhelpful, given it relaxes you and makes you sleepy?

It is lovely if you add some to lemon Mamade.

I don't know about bags, I find the buds don't fall off unless I pull them off iyswim.

Round here (I live in Provence, so lots of lavender) people hang upside-down bunches of dried lavender around the place, and it's a while before the buds start to fall off.

I only mentioned it because my son picked a bit on holiday in France & proceeded to crumble it slowly for the next few miles - it smelt lovely.

As it was about 35 degrees at the time & we were doing 80 on the autoroute we had the a/c on; I don't "need air fresheners in the car" as a rule, the lavender was a pleasant exception.

You could make Lavender Jelly, v yummy with oatly biscuit and blue cheese.

oaty not oatly.

Hmm. So I'm too late perhaps. I've crumbled the seeds off the heads cos I was cutting the blessed thing back and just wondering what to do with them now. If anything. I might just put them in a bowl next to my bed.

tie it in bunches and hang it upsidedown in my downstairs loo. that is the loo reserved for...erm...solids.

lavender is lush, that lavendar jelly recipe looks fab. hummungbird bakery also have recipe for lavender cupcakes

cor that sounds delicious.

MayorNaze, the best solution for the smell of...erm...solids is to strike a match & wave it around until it burns your fingers - works like magic (certain people need 2 however)

We keep matches in the loo all the time now. Mind you we haven't got small children any more...

ah, see, it is the small children making the smell...

good tip though

That does complicate matters a bit

Scuse me, keep your whiffy whiffs out of my fragrant thread!

(Strictly only solids upstairs here!)

Ponders, afraid my post sounded a bit abrupt, didn't mean to criticise you, is just one of those things that I've always wondered about and never had the chance to ask...

Btw, my mother tells me I should be putting the lavender in the sugar although presumably you'd then have to sift it to remove lavendar bits.

I use it in shortbread. mmmm!

if you've already got the heads off, then I would put it in a cloth bag (or wrap it in a hanky) and put it under your pillow, or somewhere you would like to smell nice.

My mum always hung hers upside down to dry in brown paper bags to catch any heads that fell off, then when dry she pulled all the heads off and made lavender bags with them.