Early one morning in early July, when the sun is not yet high, the birds are chirping, and the bees are buzzing tirelessly, the alarm clock rings, and it's a special day: it's time to start harvesting.
We imagine Andrea and Lara immersed in this scene, wearing their aprons, heading out into the fields, sickles in hand, to begin harvesting their lavender, the lavender of Montecchio.
A fairytale setting
The landscape is dreamlike: endless fields, nature as far as the eye can see, a riot of purple.
Where are we? From the images, it looks like Provence, but instead, once again, we are just around the corner: in Maremma. And, once again, we want to tell you about a project that stems from the desire to slow down and change lifestyle, to live in a more sustainable way and in harmony with nature.
Andrea and Lara have revived old farming traditions based on respect for seasonality and the enhancement of the properties of plants, and have created their own world scented with lavender.
Through the processing of this plant, which they like to describe as rustic and sincere, they are dedicated to promoting well-being through the countless benefits of lavender essential oil and other natural products with which they combine this precious raw material.
Lara and Andrea's story
Lavender and slow living: how did the idea for this project come about? What led you to decide to move to Maremma and devote yourselves to growing lavender?
We moved to Maremma in 2019. We already had this house and spent all our vacations and free time here. At a certain point, we both felt the need for a change, for a slower life in tune with nature, so we left Bologna and our respective jobs and moved permanently to Maremma.
At the time, the house had a large garden and an olive grove, so while I was busy setting up my small new yoga studio in the village, Andrea was thinking about how to organize the land around the house. At the time, we had a few lavender plants, about a hundred, but they were growing healthy and strong, so Andrea came up with the idea of using the land to create a small lavender farm. That's how the first field was born: about 700 hybrid lavender plants. From there, we slowly expanded, diversifying production and also growing lavandula officinalis. Today, we have about 2,500 plants, including lavandin and lavender officinalis.
We would particularly like to know how this wonderful plant is grown: does it need special care? What is its ideal environment? When does it flower, and when and how is it harvested?
Lavender is a hardy and tenacious plant that grows with little water and is mainly sensitive to waterlogging. There are numerous varieties that have slightly different habitats, mainly related to altitude. It blooms from mid-June to mid-July and is harvested in the first weeks of July.
What is the process for extracting essential oils from the lavender plant?
Lavender, like many other plants, is steam distilled. The distiller separates the watery part, called hydrolate, from the oily part containing the precious chemicals that make essential oils powerful allies for our well-being.
We know that lavender has many beneficial properties: what are the main ones and which are less well known? What are the specific uses of its essential oils?
Lavender essential oil is one of the most versatile and broad-spectrum essential oils in the worldof aromatherapy. It has purifying, antibacterial, soothing, analgesic, and sedative properties. It is a powerful regulator of the central nervous system, helping us to rest and relax, but if we are tired or depressed, it is a mood tonic, giving us new energy.
You can use it in many different ways, inhaled dry or diffused in the environment to help you rest, relieve tension and agitation, before important job interviews or school exams, to regain calm and clarity after a long tiring day.
Lavender essential oil is one of the few oils that you can use in small quantities directly on the skin, a few drops on your wrists or in the center of your chest to support your nervous system, or massaged onto your temples in case of headaches, directly on small skin imperfections or minor fungal infections.
You can add one or two drops to your face cream if you have delicate, sensitive skin prone to redness or combination and blemished skin. Add two drops to your shower gel or conditioner for a relaxing and restful effect. You can add a few drops to your fabric softener or ironing water for sanitized and fragrant laundry.
What other natural products do you combine with lavender in your creations?
Our collection stems from a desire to promote this wonderful plant, but also the wonderful area in which we live, which is why we decided to collaborate with other farmers in the area. We have therefore created a number of wellness pillows by mixing our lavender flowers with various natural materials such as flax seeds, cherry pits, and other naturally scented materials such as chamomile flowers.
Then, since we often visit South Tyrol and were fascinated by Swiss pine, a type of pine that grows at high altitudes and has properties very similar to lavender, we made pillows and stuffed animals filled with lavender and Swiss pine shavings.
The nose always decides first. Smells amuse and intrigue us immediately because they tell stories, create suggestions, and transform into experiences.
So we also created a small line of candles, blending our essential oil with other essential oils, always with the intention of conveying the scents of the Maremma, and, in collaboration with a small local company, our first room fragrance.
The power of nature
In the evening, in summer, after a long and tiring day at work, we like to light one of these candles and relax. We come from a small country village, and the scent of lavender transports us there, surrounded by nature: we can almost hear the crickets chirping, we think we can see fireflies in the distance as it gets darker and darker.
Time slows down, but our minds race ahead, back to when I was a child visiting my grandmother, rummaging through her closet in search of new colorful fabrics and always finding those little bags of fragrant lavender.
Scents are memories: as soon as they awaken the nose, the heart suddenly hooks onto memories that were lost who knows where.
This chat with Andrea and Lara made us think about the power of nature, which creates substances that make us feel good, such as the plants from which essential oils are extracted.
So let's take advantage of it and pamper ourselves!
We, for example, have decided to start adding a few drops of lavender essential oil when we wash our aprons. It's a completely eco-friendly way to always have this sweet source of energy with us.
Why not give it a try? :)
