Planted in circles - the north american native way |
Two year old plants |
The colour and the aroma are maximised by the climate |
Three year old plants |
Lavender for decoration too |
Air drying in bunches of 50 |
Dried and ready for rubbing |
A day's picking in the midst of harvesting |
When sorted and bunched it will go to the drying shed |
Bounty for the bees |
27 kilos of flower heads produce 1 litre of essential oil |
No fertiliser, no pesticides, no herbicides - fully organic |
Waving in the breeze |
Cuttings for the next planting - we are expanding |
The lavender way farm is a small boutique lavender producer. It is the only working lavender farm on the beautiful island of Crete in the southern mediterranean. The climate is wonderfully supportive and the soil is good. No herbicides are used. No pesticides are used. We use no fertiliser, preferring the eco friendly methods of Fukuoka. With mountains to the south and the sea to the north we plant in circles rather than the uninspiring rows of the factory methods favoured by the bigger, more commercial lavender farms. All planting, pruning, and harvesting is done by loving hand - no mechanical intervention occurs here at the Lavender Way. |