Little Lavender Farm
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Around the Farm

Bath Bombs and Farmers Markets

2/27/2016

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We are so excited for our first farmers’ market in the San Diego area!  We will be at the Sikes Adobe Farmers’ Market across the street from Westfield North County in Escondido tomorrow, Sunday Feb 28.  So if you're in the area, come on by!  We will be selling some things we haven’t yet put on the website -- hydrosols, wreaths, and lavender bundles -- along with soap, neck and eye pillows and sachets.  


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Lavender Soap-making

2/12/2016

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There is something so magical about making cold-process soap: the chemistry of it, the "danger" of it, the creativity of it, and the mystery of it.   I've tried the "melt and pour" method (premade soap bricks that you melt, add scent to and then pour into molds) and I've tried the hot-processed method (quicker saponification in the crock-pot for those who like instant gratification), and while those are perfectly acceptable methods, cold-process is the one for me.  It's like a little bit of Christmas every time I get to unwrap the soap I made the previous day to see what I've created. So I thought I'd spread the magic and share my lavender oatmeal recipe for anyone who would like to give it a try.

I've also added a few links to products that I use and have worked well for me.  There are also some great websites for ingredients, products, and instruction.  I especially like Brambleberry not only for products but for the instruction.  

(Of course if you'd rather just buy some soap, I can help you with that as well!)


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Distillation Attempt #2 and Hydrosol 

2/3/2016

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Last weekend, after making modifications to our design, we made another attempt at distillation.  Mark attached a separate hose to the top of the pressure cooker and also modified the coiled copper cooling section so that gravity could help pull the the steam and resulting distillate through to the funnel. The modifications worked beautifully -- the attached hose and copper coiling quickly brought the distillate into the funnel and we could see a thin layer of oil forming on the top.  But as we were emptying the funnel, the oil layer got smaller and smaller and finally disappeared altogether.  We were perplexed so I read as much as I could find online and I think there might be a few issues going on here:
  1. We need to let the distillate set for 10-15 min before trying to drain.  But because our funnel fills up pretty quickly, we might need a separate container to capture the distillate during the boiling process.
  2. We are boiling too hot and too quickly.  I read that we should maintain a slow boil and that it should boil for maybe 2 hours.  I think we kept it at a rolling boil and were ending the process too early (an hour or less).  
  3. Apparently fresh plant material is great for hydrol but perhaps not so great for oil.  Several blogs referenced a distillation process specifically for hydrosol where fresh plant material was used.  We will try with dried plant material next time and sse what happens.

I would also like to replace the radiator hose coming from the pressure cooker with a copper hose -- and Mark wants to modify the hose to be more of a funnel shape as well


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    *A Circle Of Purple Sunshine
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    *Harvesting And Distilling
    *Lavandula Angustifolia "Felice"
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    *Lavender Soap Making Instructions
    *Laverne And Shirley
    *Learning To Make Soap
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    *Queenmaking: Game Of Hives Edition
    *Rebirth Of A Lavender Farm
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    *Welcome To Our Slice Of Heaven

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    Hello! My name is Pam Reynolds Baker and I am a mom/wife, English teacher, writer, and lavender farmer who lives in Dundee Oregon .  ​

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Little Lavender Farm
11011 NE Paren Springs Rd
Dundee, Oregon 97115

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  • Home
  • Lavender 101
    • Our Lavender
    • A Brief History of Lavender
    • The Many Uses of Lavender Essential Oil
    • What is Hydrosol anyway?
    • Lavender and Anxiety
    • Lavender and Weddings
    • Lavender around the house
    • When to harvest lavender
    • Lavender and Soil Amendment
  • Field notes
    • Around the farm
    • Reflections on Life and Lavender
    • Meet the Neighbors
  • Shop
  • Recipes
    • food/drink >
      • Drinks
      • Appetizers
      • Main Dishes
      • Desserts
    • bath/body
  • Lodging
  • Gallery
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy