Mellow out with Calming Lavender

Lavender is one of the most widely recognized aromas around the world, known largely for its use in nearly every “calming” product on the market. Of its 20- plus varieties, several grow perfectly in the Mediterranean-like climate of Ventura County.

This beautiful bee-friendly flower has quite the history: It was used in soaps, perfumes and medicine in the Middle Ages, when price-gouging foragers pumped up the price by telling buyers that poisonous snakes lived in the lavender bushes, making it difficult to collect. Hazard pay, anyone? The Romans likely passed it on to Great Britain, where it was routinely sewn into sheets to protect against bedbugs and used for perfuming baths and to mask the smells in outhouses. In 1652, in the book The English Physician, author Nicholas Culpeper described lavender as “so well known … that it needeth no Description.”

Here and now, back in Ventura County, it is so prolific that for the last 16 years it has been celebrated in Ojai’s Lavender Festival, scheduled to happen for the last time this summer in Libbey Park on June 29.

Lavender is mostly known for its aromatic and medicinal properties, and has long been used in aromatherapy and in oil form to reduce anxiety and depression; to treat headaches, burns and insomnia; and even to add clarity to thoughts. And now, dozens of scientific studies are backing up the thousands of years of anecdotal evidence.

But did you know it is also edible? The entire plant can be consumed and offers quite a variety of flavor profiles. Try it as a floral tea or in a latte, as a slightly sweet addition to baked goods (fresh flowers), or dried with a variety of herbs (Herbs de Provence) in savory dishes like roasted chicken.

The following recipes were shared with us by Bianca Rose of Compassionate Eating and Greta Strautman of Little Apple Kitchen.