The Lavender is Waking Up!

We had beautiful weather this past weekend and I spent a lot of it out in my lavender field.  I have over 300 plants in our little lavender farm.  This will be our third harvest.  The plants will be ready to harvest in July.  I did a LOT of blogging about lavender last July and my readers seemed to enjoy it.  This year, I thought it would be fun if I took photos in the field every weekend and posted them on the blog.  Over on the sidebar, I'll have the most recent view. You can watch it grow and bloom along with me... but you don't have to do any of the work- just enjoy the view!

The black stuff is landscape fabric.  It's a mesh that allows water and air to circulate but won't let the weeds come up.  It doesn't look great, but it saves me a bazillion hours of weeding.  It also allows me to keep a weed-free field without chemicals.

This past weekend, I pulled the weeds that were around the base of the plants, and I gave them a little haircut.  I just trimmed a little- shaping them and removing any stray sprigs.  It's important to keep lavender in a nicely shaped ball.  One of the most common questions about lavender is why it gets "leggy" and woody.  You have to harvest the lavender (either while it's in bloom or after it's done), and keep the plant groomed into a nice "ball".  If you don't, it will send off woody shoots that can't be neatly trimmed.  If you cut that woody growth, you just get a hole, and if you don't cut it, the plant takes on a weird shape.  And on top of that, you don't get as many blooms.  Some people prune in the spring, some in the fall.  Actually, I like to do it a little earlier but we've had a chilly spring.  If you have a scruffy-looking, leggy lavender plant, just tell it you're sorry, dig it up and toss it.  This is a great time to plant a nice new little lavender plant.  For tips on planting, look back at my posts from last July.

I'll be shipping fresh bundles anywhere in the US in July (sorry no international sales of fresh lavender).  I sell fresh lavender in July and dried lavender buds and other lavender products all year on the Alderwood Quilts website.