There's a magical wildness about the lavender plants this year.
They are now all four years old and I guess a little past their best due to being uprooted, moved and replanted at completely the wrong time of year, but they have flowered abundantly.
The scent as I brush past them to get to the washing line is amazing.
And it seems I am not the only one that can smell their inviting aroma ....
.... they are full of bees, and I mean FULL.
They flit from plant to plant, from stem to stem, busy little buzzing bees, it makes the garden feel alive and vibrant. I have not picked any of the stems for the house this year, the bees need them much more than I do, so I'm getting my pleasure instead from crouching down and spending much more time than I should watching the furry insects that I love so much and that do us all so much good.
Lovely Hubby is being initiated in the art of bee keeping by a friend at work as he's keen to get our own hives in the future. He's just given us a small piece of honeycomb, the sort you would normally buy from a Farmers Market in a jar so we can sample his delicious honey. He's not taking much this year his colonies need it for Winter so we feel very lucky to have some of this liquid gold.
Now Lovely Hubby has popped it in the fridge and I don't think it needs to be, as honey lasts for years and years due to its antibacterial qualities. Am I right or is he - it's bugging me - HELP!!
Sue xx
You are quite right, Honey doesn't go off but when it sits around for a while it can set/crystalize but a quick warm up in a microwave or oven will soon turn it back to clear runny honey.
ReplyDeleteLove your lavender plants to, Lavender is one of my fave scents. Don't forget to pick and dry some soon for the winter. :)
Tasty in biscuits to!
x x x
I know a million and one things to do with lavender, until last year I ran a nice little lavender business :-)
DeleteI was almost certain that it was fine outside the fridge, I do have lots of jars, some out of date but still perfectly fine in the cupboards but I just thought I'd check - thanks.
Maybe I need to learn a million and one things about honey next :-)
Please can you give us some ideas- my bushes have really taken off this summer, and I'd like to use some lavender for home made gifts. I know about lavender bags and lavender sugar...
ReplyDeletethanks!
summer blessings xx
How about this Angela, easy to do once you get the knack and they make wonderful presents or simply pop some in your drawers to keep the moths away and your clothes smelling divine (although I think they are much too pretty to tuck away :-)
Deletehttp://everything-lavender.com/lavender-wands-provence.html
Also brilliant as an item to sell at a coffee morning to raise funds. You could also print out and laminate the sheet showing how to make them for a nominal sum, something I used to do.
We live in far south Tasmania, next stop Antarctica, and we sell local honey for a friend. This honey is straight from the hives, unheated and untreated. We are in the middle of winter and most of the glass jars have little crystals in as we keep it on a table outside for sale. Once it is warmed up it becomes lovely runny honey again. We never keep it in the fridge, even in Summer. It has to be okay as people keep coming back for more! No fridge! Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteJan
Some honey was discovered in a 3000 year old archeological site and apparently it was fine - which makes a bit of a nonsense of "use by" dates!
ReplyDeleteHoney is pure sugar and keeps wonderfully. I remember having honey on knee scrapes topped off with a bandage as a child, they healed super fast.
ReplyDeleteBTW although I initially said that I would not go down the juice road, having read your new blog I intend to dig out the juicer and have a go. It would be lovely to have your Juicing Journey made public. Pam
Honey keeps forever at least 20 years and never in Fridges.We even got honey we got when in NZ 5 years ago and super delicous
ReplyDeleteI was wondering only yesterday what i could plant in the veggie patch to encourage the bees for pollination and there you have it, lavender. Thanks you for the prompt. You have been very helpful lately, especially your juice post. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to show my two tiny lavender bushes (planted this year)this post....tell them to buck up their ideas!
ReplyDeleteJane x
Absolutely no need for refrigeration, as I also never put eggs in the fridge; how do we think our ancestors survived to create the future generations?
ReplyDeletewell I think you have lots of good advice above ! Me... honey & eggs in the cupboard !
ReplyDeleteWonderful. I saw literally dozens of bees on a bank of lavender a couple of weekends ago. I do love bees, I'm very envious of you getting some of your own!
ReplyDeleteI was going to ask if you 'harvested' the lavender but obviously I am late commenting again. I did not know you were in the lavender business - bet that was great. I used to pass a lavender farm in Hampshire on my way to work, it was fantastic seeing the progress throughout the season, plus the scent that used to waft its way into the car. Would love to grow enough lavender to do something with - I used to collect it from the local primary school at the end of term to make lavender gifts that could be sold by the school for funds when the children were at school. Went for walk in the Norfolk countryside today (away from the campsite) and was pleasantly surprised to see how many bees were around.
ReplyDeleteWonderful to see the bees.. I love them.. We are new to beekeeping and have 2 hives. We just hope we can get them through winter as lots of beekeepers have lost a lot of their bees over the the cold winters we have had of late. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteJulie :o)
Congratulations to you for having such a beautiful lavender. Its scent is unique. And without bees we won't survive, we have to care about them!
ReplyDeleteThanks for relaxing post.
Greetings from Poland:)
Natalie
Do you have a recipe for a lavender cake and biscuits please?
ReplyDeleteDo you have a recipe for a lavender cake and biscuits please?
ReplyDeleteHoney makes a lovely drink called mead, very easy.
ReplyDelete