Provencal Lavender Sachets with Scented Love from France

Remember Provence is an online website featuring only made-in-Provence artisanal products. The company founder and president, Marie-Hélène, carefully selects items produced using traditional know-how and local ingredients (where applicable). Harvested and packaged by hand, these Provencal lavender sachets are only one example of the range of goods available on the website, where you find linens, earthenware, china, and sweet treats, among other things. The following article is a portion of an original publication from this Remember Provence blog.

Where are the Lavender Fields?

Commercial lavender cultivation is mainly concentrated in two highlands east of the area. This is why we generally speak of lavender from ‘Haute Provence.’

One of them is the highland of Sault, the capital of fine lavender (lavandula angustifolia). It’s located in the department of Vaucluse, very close to the mountain Mont Ventoux, above the Luberon Natural Park, and not far from the Baronnies Provencal Natural Park.

The second is the Valensole ‘plateau,’ known worldwide for lavender fields as far as the eye can see. It is further south, not far from the Verdon Regional Natural Park.

Guide to the Alpes de Haute Provence

Why Grow Lavender?

Bundled, the lavender stalks will be prepared in bouquets, or the flowers will be dried and removed from the stalks for sachets.

Dried lavender bunches are now made of flowers that look like seeds; they drop quickly. Essential oil, obtained by distillation, can be made with true lavender or lavandin. The difference between lavender and lavandin is in the essential oil uses.

The ‘true lavender’ properties are very popular with perfumers and pharmacists, while the lavandin (hybrid) essential oil is only used to perfume cosmetics, soaps and detergents.

Making and Using Lavender Sachets

Making lavender sachets is very easy. Just take a small bag of fabric, cotton, gauze or burlap, preferably, which will allow the lavender fragrance to escape but not the flowers. Remember Provence sells dried lavender from lavandin flowers in bulk packages if you want a DIY project.

You can keep clean and fragrant laundry while protecting it from moths with lavender bags. Slip them in your cupboards, between the sheets, or in the drawers with your clothes to always find them fresh and delicately deodorized.

The scent of lavender remains active for about two to three years. Squeeze the sachets in your hands to reactivate their diffusion. They can be refreshed with a couple of drops of essential oil.

Lavender Field to Essential Oil

A heavenly scent floats on warm evening breezes during the lavender harvest in Provence at the end of July. The distillation has begun, alerted by the first wafts of perfumed air. Inside enormous metal vats, steam rises through the lavender cuttings, forcing the flowers to release their essential oil. The resulting liquid contains the flower’s essence, oil, and fragrance at the end of the process.

It’s hard to believe, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that mechanical harvesting via tractor began. These old tractors had special blades to cut the lavender as they moved along the rows. The cut flowers are tied by the machine and left in small bunches to dry in the sun. Today, harvesting machines cut and roll the plants into big bundles. This process saves time, but the specialists believe the essential oil at the end of the distilling process is less pure.

Pure lavender oil is expensive, and many poor-quality products are on the market. The yield from a hectare of lavender flowers produces only about 15 kilograms of essential oil. If you are fortunate enough to witness the harvest and watch the distillation process, it’s easy to appreciate how much lavender needs to be grown to produce that little vial of essential oil.

Love at First Sight

The fragrance of blooming lavender fields is magical. Your eyes follow perfect rows of plants shaped like hedgehogs stretching to the Provencal horizon. This aromatic purple beauty attracts thousands of tourists and locals, hoping to time their visit for the peak of the flowering cycle. However, Mother Nature is in charge. The precise timing of flowering changes annually, depending on the weather. Typically, some fields bloom by late June, and the harvest is mostly complete by mid-August.

Lavender Essentials & Recipes