In Search of the Perfect Lavender Field

Provence France, July 2012

I grew lavender in my yard in Cincinnati Ohio; it was always nice to imagine seeing an endless field in bloom. And so it happened that we took a trip through Provence during the peak of the lavender bloom. We drove from Avignon to Gordes and then onto Sault. Later during the trip, we stopped at the Monastery of St. Paul’s where Van Gogh stayed in the asylum. This monastery and the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Senanque had the most beautiful settings to capture the lavender field of dreams. These fields were the way you would imagine them to be! Gorgeous rows, perfectly straight and brilliantly purple. Others were nice, but did not have the photographic effect we wanted. Now after seeing these two locations, I realized that everyone takes these same pictures. They are printed in magazines, calendars, coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets and note cards among other things. These fields are tended, pampered and quite honestly lead you to believe all fields should look this way. So we had some disappointment in the regular fields, until we came to these.


Lavender is a small seasonal crop in Provence. It is a member of the Lamiaceae family (part of the mint family) and there are 25-30 species of these flowering plants. Commercial cultivation of lavender as a crop is a relatively recent occurrence compared to the rest of the history of Provence. Lavender grew wild as far back as Greek and Roman times. The Romans named the plant lavender for the root word lavare which means to wash or clean. Lavender was not easy to cultivate commercially, so traditionally the flowers were hand gathered from fields where it grew wild. In Roman times, a pound of lavender flowers could be sold for the equivalent of a month's wages for a farm worker or fifty haircuts from the local barber.


Harvesting lavender was traditionally a woman’s job. The knife has a heavy, moon-shaped blade and was made with a short handle to fit a woman's grip. The lavender cutter takes the flower by the stem in one hand and cuts it with the knife held in the other hand. She cuts them stem by stem until she has a bundle in her hand. This is tied off with a stem and hung to dry in the field for several days. Then the buds are soaked and distilled for their essential oils or use in the dried form. Shade drying has been shown to preserve more of the plant’s essential oils. There are now about 21,000 hectares of lavender cultivated in the South East of France.

In medieval times powdered lavender was used as a condiment. However traditional Provincial cooking does not use this herb in recipes. Nowadays, lavender is used liberally in many desserts, sauces, and to flavor chocolates. Lavender lends a floral and slightly sweet flavor to most dishes, and is sometimes paired with sheep's-milk and goat's-milk cheeses. In cooking, dried buds (also referred to as flowers) are used, although some chefs experiment with the leaves as well. The nectar from the flowers makes a high-quality honey, also a specialty product of the region.




The essential oil of lavender was used in hospitals during World War I to disinfect floors and walls. Currently, lavender is used alone and in combination with other herbs for aromatherapy. Lavender has also been found to exert an anti-anxiety effect leading to improved sleep in some individuals. Other uses include treatment for insect bites, burns, headaches and healing acne. Lavender can cause allergic reactions, and is not recommended for use if pregnant or breastfeeding.





Commercial production now takes place primarily in the higher elevations around the town of Sault and the foothills of Mount Ventoux. In 1981 the lavender industry established an A.O.C., Appelation d'origine contrôlée (meaning "with a guarantee of origin"), for lavender such as is used in the wine industry. This "controlled origin label" is for "essential oils of lavender from Haute-Provence" and is only for essential oil of fine lavender (L. augustifolia). The fields must be located within a specific territory at a minimum altitude of 800 meters.





For more information, please go to the website below. You will find links to area maps of lavender fields, and much more about the cultivation and production of commercial lavender.





http://www.whitelotusaromatics.com/index.php/newsletters/lavender_of_provence