The Local Lavender project
The award-winning Local Lavender project aims to revive the once famous lavender fields of the Carshalton area of London, the “lavender capital of the world” around 1900. The area helped companies such as Yardley build an international reputation in perfumery and bath luxuries.
Around 1900, blue fields of Lavender could be seen all over Wallington, Carshalton, Waddon and Sutton. Lavender was used for scented bags, floor and furniture washes, as a disinfectant, to preserve linen from moths, and for remedies. Lavender was also used in recipes such as lavender jam, honey and custard.
The harvest has been a popular attraction since 1999 with the flower crop growing larger every year. In 2001 an ingenious harvesting solution was found in the form of a small scale “Heritage Harvester”. The fabulous contraption was custom built from scrap and recycled materials by an engineering team from Cranfield University, led by Dr James Brighton, consultant engineer to Channel 4's "Scrap-heap Challenge” and “Junkyard Wars". The Heritage Harvester was specially designed to harvest narrow rows of lavender without damaging the plants, and demonstrates good re-use of materials from second-hand agricultural machines, a rotator and a quad bike.
The harvested lavender is distilled into pure essential oil that can be used for aromatherapy or relaxing scents.
The Lavender project has its roots in a long-term collaboration with local prison HMP Downview. Cuttings of the traditional varieties of the area were collected from the public and grown in an ambitious horticulture project within the prison, providing prisoners with useful skills. Once ready for planting, after two or three years, prisoners on day-release helped BioRegional staff and Naturallythinking clear and plant up disused allotments
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