These Knowledge About Lavender You Must Know

In fact, there are well over 100 lavender farms across the United States. Though most tend to be concentrated on the west coast, it's a slowly growing agro-industry.

I recently visited White Oak Lavender Farm, in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The family-run farm, which grows over 30 varieties of lavender, has a mission that extends beyond growing and harvesting herbs. Lavender is an integral tool for mental, emotional and physical well-being and, like lavender, every aspect of the farm is meant to soothe tense nerves, relieve stress and put the mind-body continuum back into balance.

Lavender farming is fairly new to the contemporary agricultural scene, even though it has been cultivated in other parts of the world, like Provence, France, for much longer. When asked about the body of research they drew from in starting up the White Oak lavender Farm a few years ago, the guide pointed to one major source: the internet. Forums and other spontaneous sites provide real-time information on growing tips, advice for different plant varieties and general help.

Primarily used in the U.S. as a dried herb for making sock drawers smell nice or as an essential oil for aromatherapy, lavender is also a culinary herb. Its flowery, sweet taste pairs well with bakery recipes, butter, meats and vegetables. It's an herb rich in iron.

Much like whiskey. That's how the essential oils are removed. By using low-pressure steam to boil the oil from the plant, the oil and water byproduct, known as lavender essence, both have multiple uses, from aromatherapy to massages.

Post distillation, one of the major uses of lavender oil is aromatherapy. Studies indicate that the scent of lavender may have a physiological effect on the body, slowing down the nervous system and allowing the mind and muscles to relax.

Ancient Greeks and Romans intuited the cleansing power of lavender, with written records that identify the herb as a tool for bathing and cleaning wounds. Modern science today is just beginning to unravel the antiseptic, antibacterial and antifungal properties of the plant. A number of studies have linked lavender to effective treatments of hair loss and dandruff, eczema and other skin ailments, headache relief and muscle pain.

Some have an even broader perspective of lavender's healing power. Prior to its development as a farm at the turn of the century, the property that White Oaks Lavender Farm sits on used to be forest. The site of a major retreat during the Civil War, that same forest briefly became a cesspool of intense suffering, violence and death. It seems fitting, the owners reckoned, that such land would later be used to cultivate a plant with immense healing properties.