It has been a long time since I mentioned my lavender. I planted 6 plants of Egerton Blue, which is one of the many varieties of Lavandula Angustifolio in 2021. The first year was not a true production year, the plants were very small. To promote plant growth, I should have just cut all of the flowers are immediately. But year two (2023) was reasonable good. I had 2 large bags of flowers/stems, and after 6 batches through my still, ended with 12.5 ml of essential oil. Now, this probably does not much, but the ratio I use is 6 drops of EO for every 10ml bottle of Jojoba carrier oil. Since 1 drop of EO is 0.05ml, this would lead to around 41 bottles. I only make it for family and friends, so this is actually a lot.
In 2024, I had lost one of my plants. I later found out that, after the planting year, I shouldn’t water them in the summer, unless it is REAL dry for a long period. This make sense, as we CALL this English Lavender, but it really is a Mediterranean plant. I also picked rather late and lost a lot of oil there. While I had enough for 4 runs through the still, I only ended up with 6.3ml (about 21 completed bottles).
2025 is my latest crop, and I still have 5 plants. I spend FAR less time and effort with getting the material to just the flowers (frankly, I put the flowers and all of the stems through the still). I arrived at enough material for 9 runs, and ended with 13.7ml (about 45 complete bottles). So far, I have distilled 32.5ml of my own oil, or about 108 completed bottles. Again, this is for friends and family only, so I have far more oil than I can use up in a year. Frankly, at the rate I am using it, a lot might go bad before I ever get to it. But, I am using oils from 2021 still and it is fine.
Also in 2025, I planted 5 more plants. Hopefully, I don’t kill any of them. They seemed to grow well this planting year.
