Perfect Salad Dressing for Fresh Summer Greens

Fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and more are so plentiful now, so I thought I would share a vinaigrette recipe that was served at the Taste of Garrett County and made with culinary lavender from Deep Creek Lavender Farm.  The recipe is from Rita on Food.com.  I adjusted the amount of honey as I like a tangier dressing but it is delicious and very light on fresh lettuce from the garden or as a marinade for chicken or fish. 

Lavender and Honey Salad Dressing

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced sweet onion
• 1 garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon coarse grain mustard
• 1/4 cup honey (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender (1 tablespoon fresh)
• 1/2 teaspoon poppy seed (optional)
• salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Blend all ingredients together.
2. Stand for 30 mins to allow flavors to infuse.
3. Stir and adjust salt and pepper again and serve

I added some feta cheese to the salad and the saltiness of the cheese with the sweet and tangy flavor of this dressing was amazing!



Shades of Purple

It amazes me the colors in this beautiful world we live.  The various shades of green after a summer rain, the colors in a vegetable garden when everything begins to ripen, the various shades of color of the different hummingbirds at my feeder, but some of my favorite are the beautiful colors of Hidcote and Folgate Lavenders at harvest.  Oh my, the shade of purples are amazing and these cultivars hold their color when dried.  There are so many beautiful lavenders but for some reason these two are just fun to grown and harvest. 

This picture just can't do it justice.  The scent is amazing - definitely need a scratch and sniff button on this blog. The Folgate, the lighter shade laying on top, has the softest, sweetest scent this year.  I just love it.  The Hidcote is so rich and purple in color it just makes me smile.  The Gross isn't quite ready to harvest yet, but that, too, is an amazing color this year.  More pics to come.

The Taste of Garrett County, to be held June 18th, is a major fundraiser for Garrett Trails. Patrons can immerse themselves in special cooking demonstrations from some of the area’s best chefs. The event offers prizes and raffles, live entertainment and delicious new offerings and classic favorites from Garrett County's most popular dining establishments and local farms.  This year Deep Creek Lavender Farm is providing a Lavender Honey Salad Dressing to be served on locally grown salad greens - YUM!  Here is the recipe we are using courtesy of Rita on Food.com:

Lavender Honey Salad Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced sweet onions
• 1 garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon coarse grain mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender ( 1 tablespoon fresh)
• 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
• salt & pepper

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients together.
2. Stand for 30 mins to allow flavors to infuse.
3. Stir and adjust salt and pepper again and serve. 

This is a delicious vinaigrette, but I think I will decrease the honey a bit as I like a bit more tang.  I also will steep the lavender buds ahead of time in one of the liquids and add the flavor that way.  Many folks like the flavor of the lavender but don't like to munch on the buds.  I am excited to be part of this great fundraiser.  It is so great to be included as a working farm in Garrett County. 

Neither heat nor surgery can keep us down!

My dear sister, Mary, lends a hand at the farm.  Here planting Fred Boutin.

We are well on our way to having a new front field full of lavender at the farm.  Over Memorial Day in the heat and humidity you find in the summers of MD we planted 500 new lavender plants some angustifolias and some hybrids including Buena Vista, Royal Velvet, Grosso, Fat Spike Gross, Folgate, Hidcote, Sharon Roberts, and the pink culinary lavender called Mellisa. 

Fungus or winter damage?

This year has been so hard on the older plants on the farm.  The mid-Atlantic experienced such a mild winter that the lavender started into growing phase in February when it was warm and then that new growth was challenged when it returned to winter weather in late March and April.  Deep Creek Lavender was not the only farm to feel the impact.  I believe some may be infected with a fungus.  Some lavender grow up from the center and those will probably recover once the dead part is removed but the angustifolias may not fair so well....time will tell.

The weather has played havoc with bloom dates of lavender across the United States.  In the Midwest many farms are done with harvest while those in the West state they are about three weeks behind.  Nature has its own plan.  So far the Hidcotes are blooming but the Grosso won't be in bloom for several weeks.  That is OK with us as it spread things out a little for us.  I just had foot surgery so the later the harvest the better for me. 



Sexy boot that will be my appendage for six weeks. 



On my safari book shelf on the right, I've will be adding a new book available in April that is written by the propagator of my plants and the owner of Lavender at Stonegate Farm in Oregon, Sarah Berringer Bader.  The 'Lavender Lover's Handbook' focuses on the best varieties for cooking, crafting and growing.  This beginner's guide assists the grower by explaining the color, fragrance, size, and foliage of each plant, in addition to basic pruning, spacing, and planting requirements.
We in the lavender growing community are excited for the release of this book on our favorite herb.  Sarah is an amazing business woman and very generous with her time and knowledge.  Until I can get a few copies, you can purchase from Sarah at the Lavender at Stonegate website.

Well it is nearly official.  The US Lavender Growers Association hopes to begin accepting membership within the next few months.  The Dues and Membership guidelines have been worked out and now the Policy and Procedures and Vision and Goals are being formalized.  It won't be long until we have a national organization whose mission is 'to support and promote the United States lavender industry through research, education, networking and marketing'.  Many fine people have been working hard to make this organization a true asset to all of those growers, researchers, retailers, manufacturers and marketers of lavender and lavender products in the United States.  Follow the progress on Facebook, www.facebook.com/uslavender or at the website http://www.uslavender.org./

I know on Valentines Day the color of love seems to be red, but not for us lavender folks, the color of love is, what else, lavender.  Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Culinary Lavender - Cooking and Baking with Lavender

Lavender is a very versatile herb.  It has a thousand and one uses, but few know about the spectacular taste that can be achieved with just a little bit of lavender when cooking.  From sweet to savory dishes, lavender can be used to enhance and add a special flavor that will have your guest saying, "mmm, I taste something different in here.  It is so good, what is it?"

Lavender is used in Herbs de Provence, a blend of herbs usually including savory, thyme, basil, fennel and lavender (but marjoram and rosemary are often substituted in the mix).  Herbs de Provence is used to infuse oils or to season meat or fish before cooking.  The cultivar, Provence, lavandula x intermedia, is often used for more savory dishes with the softer sweet lavenders, Melissa and Folgate, l. angustifolias, used for lighter dishes and baking but it is all up to an individuals palate what tastes good.  The one thing to remember is a little goes a long way.  Too much lavender and the taste becomes bitter and not agreeable at all.  A hint of lavender is what you want to achieve.

For baking I use a lavender extract.  To make the extract take a 2 oz of vodka and steep 2 teaspoons of dried lavender buds in the vodka.  Shake every day for seven-ten days and then drain off the liquid and throw out the lavender buds.   Strain again through a coffee filter to get any debris from the buds.  The extract is a coffee brown in color, so don't expect purple extract.  Use in place of vanilla in butter cookies.  Yum!  Or make a lavender sugar by putting 2 tbls of crushed lavender buds in 1 cup of white sugar and setting aside in a seal container for two-three weeks and letting the lavender permeate the sugar with flavor.  Sift out the buds, if you like, and subsitute lavender sugar for the plain sugar in recipes for cookies, cakes, scones and so much more. 

I'll post more about cooking with lavender in future posts with recipes, but if you want to know more,
Kathy Ghert as authored a wonderful cookbook on lavender with over 75 recipes on breads, drinks, savory and sweet dishes all cooked using lavender.  Contact me for more information or to purchase this book.

Mild Winter In Deep Creek Lake

What a mild winter we are having in Deep Creek Lake.  Normally the lavender are covered with a foot or more of snow, but not this year.  It seems there is a constant dusting, but with high 40s and low 50s predicted for the next few days even that evidence of snow will be gone.  Normally, the ice fishing on the lake is in full swing, but the lake isn't even frozen yet. 

Without the normal cold and snowy weather, my mind races to spring. I am planning out where our 500 new plants will go in the front field come May.  In the future, a gazebo will be placed in the center of the field for u-pickers and artists to take a break and sit and enjoy the beautiful lavender blooms.  In the front field we will have about eight different cultivars, some pink, some dark purple, some lighter lavender in various shapes, sizes and bloom height.  I am hoping the bloom dates will be varied as well for a longer u-pick opportunity when we eventually open to the public.  The back fields will be more of the standard Provence and Gross for a generous field of beautiful purple at bloom time..... at least that is what I am thinking today.  Everyday I learn more about lavender so plans may change.  For now it is keeping my mind busy and excited about spring.  Now I need to get those vegetable seeds started.....Man/Woman can not live on lavender alone.

New Frugality for 2012

Once January rolls around and those Christmas bills start coming in, the idea of a fresh start and saving more money in 2012 comes to the forefront.  Since I am out of laundry detergent, I decided to make some lavender laundry soap.  I have made liquid laundry detergent before but I left this batch as a powder.  Here is the recipe I used.  I sort of used the recipe from Mother Earth News as a guide.

2 cups of baking soda
1 1/2 cups of borax
1 cup of washing soap (I used Arm and Hammer)
1 bar of Ivory soap grated finely
1 1/2 tsp of lavender essential oil

Mix all together and use 1/8 of a cup per load. 

This should cost about 0.05 cents per load as compared to Tide which runs about .15 cents per load. 

Next I am going to make lavender dishwasher soap.  I bet when the hot water hits that in the dishwasher the lavender scent will fill the room!