Lavender is one of our most popular garden plants. It is an evergreen shrub that bears beautiful cut flowers. For many of us lavender is a quintessential herb: as it smells good, looks good and does you good. It is a perfumer's plant. It's fragrant oil is used in perfumes, cosmetics, soap, polish, sprays and it is often grown to attract bees and butterflies.
Culinary:
Use the flowers and leaves sparingly in cooking as it has a strong spicy aroma.
Flowers:- Add 6 flower heads to a litre of juice when making apple jelly. Remove it before bottled.
- You can add a lavender taste to honey by adding the flowers - let it stand for up to 2 weeks before use.
- Use one or two flower buds in salads for added colouring and taste.
- Use the flowers to flavour sugar for making biscuits and cakes. It tastes very nice in scones.
- Flowers can be crystallized to decorate dessert a confectionary.
Leaves:- Instead of Rosemary you can add a few twigs off lavender when preparing chicken.
- Add a few leaves to flavour roast lamb.
Medicinal:
It is said that lavender is a calming herb.
Lavender essential oil:- Is antiseptic and has healing properties on burns and blisters. It is a specific treatment for burns as it is anti-inflammatory and analgesic - it promotes healing of the tissue and if applied quickly, can prevent scarring. It soothes pain and improves the recovery of burns.
- It's antibacterial properties help skin ailments. Add a few drops to chamomile cream for eczema.
- Add a drop of oil to the bath to calm children and relax adults.
- Apply a drop of lavender oil or lavender vinegar on the temples to eases headache.
- Hair rinse: Dilute 5-10 drops of oil in water for lice and use a few drops of neat oil on a fine comb for nits.
Stress inhalant:- 1tsp salt + 5 drops of lavender essential oil - mix together, put it in a small container and sniff it when you feel stressed.
Lotion: - Add a few drops of oil to a little water and apply to sunburn and scald. As an after-care for dry leathery looking skin after sunburn: dilute it at 2% in basic vegetable oil and apply twice daily.
- Apply to cuts, scrapes, earache, insect bites and stings.
Tea with the flowers: - Will treat nervous exhaustion, tension headaches, during labour, colic and indigestion.
- A weak infusion ( 25% of normal strength) can be given to babies for colic, irritability and excitement.
- It will help you sleep.
Other:- Burn lavender stalks/flowers to disinfect/deodorise/perfume the room - it has a calming and soothing effect.
- It is a good mosquito, midge, and fly repellent. Rub lavender onto kitchen counters to discourage flies. Sprinkle a few drops of oil on bed linen to repel mosquitoes. Place cachets of dried flowers and leaves with clothes to deter moths.
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