You never realize how creative you are until it comes time to figure out what to do with all the L A V E N D E R in your garden!?!!
Most of the lavender seen here (in my drying barn) will be ‘garbled’, that is, the buds and leaves will be removed from the stems and stored for use in sachets, sweet bags, natural moth chasers, herb soaps, various herbal sundries and culinary creations. The woody stems and other herbal clippings may be saved and gathered together with twine or raffia for scented ‘ faggots’ for the fireplace. Toss them on the embers to release their sweet scents!
Other garden chores on my ‘to-do’ list are: plant bulbs, clean-up beds, empty pots & containers for winter storage, bring in ‘vacationing’ plants such as bay, scented geraniums, French lavender and rosemary; harvest herbs, make wreaths, gather pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn for Thanksgiving decorations, rake leaves, sow grass, mulch compost pile, gather rose hips…that’s enough for starters! It seems like mid-November rather than October since the weather has turned prematurely COLD (mid 40’s for high temps?) and the days are already growing shorter. You know it’s cold when you start skimming the ice off the critters water buckets. I’m sooooo not ready for winter!
Better break out the woolies!
Do you really bring in a bay tree? Ours grew to be so large that we left it outside. It survived one winter, but not the next one. You must have it on a wheely tray.