What is Lavender capable of doing for you? Watch the short vlog clip detailing it’s benefits below:

Here are common things I do with my fresh garden lavender in my home:

1. Fresh lavender will last up to ten days arranged in a container of water if you simply want them filling up the air with their fragrance and looking pretty. They will only last around 10 days. If I have extra lavender, this is what I do, especially in my kitchen where a lot of the family dynamics happen in my home. It helps relieve stress and calms the nerves, so that’s a must in a home of two boys, a moody teenage daughter, a German Shepherd pup, an asshole cat and a grouchy retired veteran for a husband.

2. Use lavender in soothing and calming bath salts to relieve tension, stress, and insomnia. To make 12 ounces of Lavender Bath Salts, mix these ingredients in a non-reactive bowl or glass jar:

• 1/2 cup Epsom salt
• 1/2 cup Dead Sea salt
• 1/2 cup oatmeal, powdered in a blender
• 1 tablespoon dried lavender buds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 to 10 drops of lavender essential oil (recipe below)

Combine the ingredients and mix well. Transfer it to a mason jar with a lid and let it rest for a couple of days so the essential oils are incorporated. Add a handful of lavender bath salts to warm bath water.

3. I always make fresh lavender oil every season. That is the first thing I do after harvesting.

To make lavender oil:

• Lavender buds
• Coffee filters
• Grain alcohol (rubbing alcohol is not recommended as its smell is too overpowering)
• Mortar and pestle (here are some tips on picking the best mortar and pestle for your needs)
• A couple of dark-colored jars (I buy the purple and teal mason jars on Amazon)

Place Lavender buds into your bowl or mortar, and crush lightly to release the aromatic oil. Just bruise the flowers with the back of the spoon or pestle. You are not making oatmeal. Too much agitation will give you Lavender soup — and that’s not how to make lavender essential oil. Transfer the Lavender to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Cover entirely with the grain alcohol or vodka. Shake the jar to release more oil, several times a day, for several days in a row. A longer steep means more intense extraction.

After a week or so of this– a short-cut during this phase of how to make lavender essential oil is to leave the “brewing” jar on a sunny kitchen counter for a weekend — you’re ready to refine. Use a coffee filter to strain the liquid and into the second jar. (The pour-off is technically lavender-infused vodka, though I don’t recommend drinking it.)

Place a clean coffee filter or cloth on top of the jar of liquid and allow it to sit undisturbed for about one week. This will allow the alcohol to evaporate from the jar, leaving essential oil as the result.
There may be sediment at the bottom, which is no big deal. If it bothers you– for instance, if you’re gifting the jar, strain it again with a clean coffee filter into a lidded storage jar. I like using dark-colored mason jars that are purple or teal on Amazon, super affordable and stylish – to protect the actives in the oil. Store it in your pantry or linen closet, out of direct sunlight.

Lavender oil itself is the magic potion to most of the numerous benefits it has to offer. Once you make this, you will have the tool to combat the things my short vlog showed you lavender can do.