Ever wondered how we harvest and distil lavender 0

What to expect when you visit Bella Lavender Estate 0

Planting Lavender 0

Here we have a small clip from our Facebook page where Mario and Thierry are planting small lavender seedlings.  Mario is very proud of his planting device. 

Kirbanu Vlog 0

When Kirbanu visited the Riverland recently for her regional South Australia tour she make the terriffic video blog of our fine region.  Bella Lavender Estate features in the first part.  Hope you enjoy

Harvesting and Distilling Lavender 0

Steam Distillation

Mario wakes up extremely early (!) in harvesting season to ensure the lavender is harvested in the morning before loading it into the distillation vessel. 

If a large amount of lavender is to be harvested then Mario will use a Tea Picker, otherwise you will often see him harvesting by hand using a strawberry sickle. 

You can view the Tea Picker havesting in this video

The lavender is placed into a stainless steel pot and when full, the pot is sealed, and low-pressure steam is introduced into the bottom of the vessel.

The steam then boils the lavender essential oil off the plant material as it works its way up through the charge. The steam exits the vessel through a copper pipe that is fed through a condenser which cools the steam, returning it to a liquid form called the condensate. This is subsequently fed into the separator. 

The lavender water known as hydrosol, discharges through a separate orifice situated below the oil surface where it is collected in a separate container. The essential oil, being lighter than water, rises to the surface of the condensate, and is collected. This essential oil is then used in all of our lavender products. These products can be viewed and tested inside the cafe. 

Listen as Mario explains the distilling process

A little bit about Lavender 0

Lavandula (common name lavender) is a genus of 39 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. 

Many members of the genus are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for garden and landscape use, for use as culinary herbs, and also commercially for the extraction of essential oils. 

Two members of the genus Intermedius and Augustofolia are most commonly used for producing essential oils and these two varieties can be seen here at Bella Lavender. 

Both varieties flower in Summer with December and January being the prettiest months for lavender at the farm. Lavender is a drought tolerant plant however young plants do benefit from good irrigation. It is important not to over water lavender plants as this can cause stress to the lavender. 

1. Augustofolia

L Augustofolia is a strongly aromatic shrub growing as high as 1 to 2 metres (3.3 to 6.6 ft) tall. The leaves are evergreen, 2–6 centimetres (0.79–2.36 in) long, and 4–6 millimetres (0.16–0.24 in) broad. The flowers are pinkish-purple (lavender-coloured), produced on spikes 2–8 cm (0.79–3.15 in) long at the top of slender, leafless stems 10–30 cm (3.9–11.8 in) long. L Augustofolia plants produce an excellent quality essential oil. 

1. Intermedius 

These lavenders are a cross ( Hybrid) between Lavandula angustifolia and Lavandula latifolia. This is where the name intermedia comes from as in between. They are typically much larger and more robust in growth the L. angustifolia, often reaching over 4ft in height and width. They are wonderful to fill larger spaces in gardens or for creating large flowering hedges. They have broader leaves than L. angustifolia and have much longer flowering stalks making up to 2/3 rds of the plants height. The long stems make them suitable for use in the house as a cut flower. L. Intermedia produce much larger quantities of oil than L. angustifolia sometimes as much as 10 times more. Unfortunately the oil is not of the same quality, it has a stronger camphor tone, and is mainly used in detergents, soaps and cheaper perfumes.

Riverland Trust Mark 0

Today we were honoured to be chosen as one of twelve founding Riverland businesses to have the privilege of using the Riverland Trust Mark.  The Riverland Trust Mark was established to provide you with a mark of integrity which when placed on a product, produce or an experience means that you can be assured that you are enjoying only the very best from our region.  To find out more about the Riverland Trust Mark and to see which other businesses share the logo please click here

Worlds Greatest Shave 0

Sunday July 24 - 1030am

Come along to this wonderful charity event to see some popular faces have all their hair shaved off or coloured.  Raising money for the Leukaemia Foundation, this is their biggest annual national fundraising event and we will be hosting the team Friends of the Foundation - Riverland.

If you would like to donate to the Team or to any member of the team pleas click here

Harrison Lowe Acoustic Live 0

Friday June 10

Postponed!  Unfortunately Harrison has broken his arm and is unable to play music at the moment.  This event has been rescheduled for September the 2nd.

Introducing Harrison Lowe.  Harrison has been playing music a long time but we will let hisTriple J Unearthed Bio do the explaining...

" Bio shmio..... I just "Rock" as I have for a very long time and If you like details got o the bio on my www.myspace.com/demonstrationsharrison page for a gander!

Book now for Mothers Day! 0