Five ways to use Lavender in Your Home this fall

No other herb is quite so prized for its fragrance and beauty, or more evocative of romance than lavender.  The season for harvesting lavender has just passed and I have a number of screens full of dried buds.  

Lavender has a laundry list of good-for-you properties.  It is antiseptic, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsive, and anti-depressant. Lavender benefits stress, anxiety, exhaustion, irritability, headaches, migraines, insomnia, depression, colds, digestion, flatulence, upset stomach, liver and gallbladder problems, nervousness, and loss of appetite.  With this in mind, I glanced through just a few notes in my file drawer and came up with five great ways to put lavender to work for you.

Relaxing Lavender Bath
Make a strong infusion by adding a handful finely chopped lavender leaves and flowers to a cup of boiling water. Let it steep 10 minutes, strain and add to your bath.  Lavender will not only relax you with its scent but will reduce the stressful feelings with it essential components.

Drowsy Potpourri
Fill a bowl by your bedside with rose petals and dried lavender flowers. Add a drop or two of lavender essential oil. Finger the bowl before drifting to sleep.

Sleepy Sachets
Put lavender flowers and a few drops of essential oil in sachets to slip beneath pillow or inside the pillow case for a soothing release of scent if you wake or turn in the night. Or if you don’t have time pick up a few Lavender Sachets from the Backyard Patch to slip into Birthday cards and hostess gifts.

Lavender Moth BagsMix equal parts of the herbs from the following list. Place them inside muslin bags or if you are feeling especially crafty, sew squares of thin cotton or use heat seal tea bags to create sachets.  Lay them in with your blankets and towels or put them in between your clothes in the drawer.

Dried Herbs to use:

lavender flowers

lavender leaves

mint

rosemary

southernwood

santolina

marjoram

  

The Backyard Patch makes two different Moth Sachets as part of our Green Cleaning line and one has a recipe very similar to this one, using lavender to combat bugs in storage.

Lavender Room SprayAdd 5 drops lavender essential oil to 50 ml distilled water in an atomizer. You will need to shake the atomizer vigorously before each use. Do not make large quantities as the keeping time is relatively short.

Hope you enjoy this short list and remember to use your lavender for all the seasonal effects of shorter days and time changes.