Drying Lavender and other herbs.

I grow four varieties of lavender in my yard, mostly for our bees but also for a new product I have been making.
Lavender loves to be cut, the plant does better if you cut it way back as it flowers.
I have found that most herbs dry better in my dehydrator.
I know people may like the look of drying herbs hanging in bunches in their kitchens. You can certainly do that as room decor, however herbs maintain their color, volatile oils and their scent better if they are dried quickly at an even temperature.
Drying in a dehydrator also helps to avoid dust and spider webs on your drying herbs.
Here on the California coast the humidity is so high that herbs will sometimes mold before they can dry.
Use the low setting on your dehydrator and cut the herbs to fit the trays.

Depending on the water content and number of trays, the herbs can take up to a day to dry.
It's a great way to save your extra oregano, rosemary, chives, thyme and basil.

A few years ago a customer asked me to make lavender dryer sachets. She loved the ones she had purchased somewhere and wanted more. You throw them in the dryer for a fresh scent or use them in your drawers, cupboards or closets.

I am NOT a seamstress so for a long time I kept telling her I was too busy ;-)
Eventually three things happened.
1) My stockpile of dried lavender was getting very large.
2) I met a friend who would do the sewing for me.
3) I found all this really fun fabric at a yard sale.

In May we tried our first batch of lavender dryer sachets at the craft show I sell at twice a year. I sold all 35 sachets in two days.

For my show coming up in November I made a lot more and decided to try a rose version made from my little pink climbing rose.