The Lavender Companion by Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci

The Lavender Companion by Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci
Buy The Lavender Companion by Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Lifestyle
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: An engaging and enlightening look at lavender and all its uses. A delight.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 176	Date: June 2024
Publisher: Storey
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1635866841
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It's strange, the things that make you immediately feel that this is the book for you. Before I started reading The Lavender Companion, I visited the author's website and there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally. (There's a recipe in the book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it. Notes in the margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down the corners of pages. You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem. I loved this book already.

I love lavender but - for some reason - I've never grown it successfully and that was what brought me to The Lavender Companion. It wasn't entirely that I was hoping for growing tips but rather that I thought I might enjoy the herb vicariously. But this isn't just a book about growing lavender, although there are some basic hints: it's about using it. We get the science behind the health benefits delivered in a user-friendly fashion.

The section I didn't expect to be excited about is that on body care. After decades of buying products which promised all sorts of miracles - most of which were too good to be true - I'd resorted to some basics, which did the job 'well enough' at a reasonable price. Then I found the lavender sugar scrub for exfoliation and the facial wash. What was immediately obvious was that I recognised the ingredients: I could even pronounce the names. A relatively short order has been placed online and before long I'm going to be spending some time in the kitchen.

The food section is mouth-watering. There are simple instructions for creating pantry staples and there is a variety of sweet and savoury dishes to tempt most tastes. My personal favourites are the watermelon summer salad and lavender roasted potatoes. I refuse to even look at the recipe for the chocolate cake - I've only got so much willpower!

I started looking at this book because I was interested in having another go at growing it. There are nearly 50 species and more than 450 varieties. If you're considering using your lavender for cooking you should be wary of which varieties you grow. English lavender (L. angustifolia) seems to be a safe bet. In many ways, the growing section of the book was the most disappointing for me as the specific advice relates to the USA and I'm in the United Kingdom. The general advice was good and I took enough away to have a lavender hedge planned for planting next spring.

I loved the history of Pine Creek Lavender Farm: lavender's grown there because elk don't eat lavender! I wish I lived close enough to visit but I would like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

We think you might also enjoy The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind by Isabel Hardman.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Lavender Companion by Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci at Amazon.com.

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