(The tulip tree.)
(I love daffodils...so crisp and sculpted, yet so beautifully ruffled and frou-frou!)
That being said, I'm moving on to my next topic: lavender.
I love lavender. I love its heavenly soft and alluring fragrance, I love its delicate and demure colors, and I love its versatility...so, obviously, this post has been a long time in coming! I waited on writing this until the lavender seeds that I had planted had sprouted a bit, and now that they are well on their way to being nicely growing plants, I can share my tea tin project and my lavender lemonade recipe with you. :)
I've wanted to grow a few little plants of my own, once spring arrive: inspired by the women in my circle of family and friends who have grown plants of their own. Succulents, basil, green onions, parsley, and hyacinths have been in rotation. After my first nerve-wracking adventure in harvesting lavender from the plants that grow behind the fence in my parents' yard--a somewhat forested area between the yard itself and the farm pasture beyond it, where a few venomous snakes have been known to lurk on occasion--I decided that it was high time that I grew some lavender plants of my own. But first--I needed a container to start growing the tiny little seeds in, because the warm weather was not yet completely permanent for the season.
Inspiration came in the form of an old tea tin that I had save after the tea itself was gone. (Harney and Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice is one of my favorite tea blends, and my BFF Micah had given a tin of it to me as a Christmas present...a delightful gift, to say the least!) I had always been of the opinion that the Harney and Sons tea tins were much too nice and potentially functional-after-being-used-exclusively-as-tea-holders to get rid of, and so I found a lovely use for them as plant pots. Turning a tea tin into a plant pot is possible in a few easy, easy steps.
#1:
The Hot Cinnamon Spice tin is a glorious fiery burnt-orange shade.
I covered it in a generous coat of basic shiny gold spray paint, let that dry,
and then gave it a second coat of paint, this time in a pretty robin's egg
blue shade that was more matte than shiny. I wanted the surface of
the tin to look weathered and a little antique, so I didn't worry about
spraying the paint on evenly; it ended up looking crackled and distressed,
which is just what I was hoping for.
#2:
See how the shade beneath shows through in the crackles and streaks?
The fiery orange of the original tin glowed through the gold spray paint
that I added, giving it a nice coppery hue. The robin's egg blue paint adds
to the aged copper effect too, which I really liked. The only other thing that
I had to do, after that was have Mr. Darcy use a drill to put a few small holes
in the bottom of the tin--we made just three holes--so that water can drain out
of the bottom of the tin and not collect there and cause the plants' roots to rot.
After that, I poured about a half an inch of aquarium gravel
into the bottom of the tin, and then added the planting soil, filling the tin
to just below the rim that you can see on the top of the tin. I planted the seeds
as directed by the instructions on the back of the seed packet,
and gave them a bit of water.
And that's it!
From tea tin to plant tin,
using just an old tea tin, spray paint, a drill,
and a few basic gardening items.
And here you can see how my little lavender sprouts are growing.
Aren't they cute? I'm so happy with how well they are coming along so far...
Growing a plant gives one a unique and happy feeling of accomplishment. Even
though it is something quite small, it is still a thing that you can do, and that is really nice.
I should add, as Mom advised me: when you first plant seeds,
secure a little bit of plastic wrap over the mouth of the tin
(or whatever you're using to hold the seeds) and allow it to act as
a sort of miniature greenhouse for the first several days,
until you start seeing the tiny green leaves peeking through the soil.
It really helps get the seeds to sprouting quickly!
So, now that I've given you the tutorial of tea tin to plant tin, I'll include the lavender lemonade recipe. I'm really looking forward to the day when my lavender plants are big enough to harvest them!
Lavender Lemonade
- Gather a handful of lavender--about four or five decent-sized sprigs is enough--and give it a good rinse, patting it dry with paper towels. Set it aside for the time being.
- Bring one and a half to two cups of water to a boil on the stove; once the water has come to a roiling boil, stir in a cup of sugar, until the sugar is fully dissolved. Reduce the heat of the burner to low, and let the water simmer. It will thicken slightly; this is your basic simple syrup.
- Add the lavender sprigs to the water and let them steep, stirring frequently and crushing the lavender leaves a bit with the spoon as you stir. The lavender leaves will make an infusion, almost like a tea, and the water will turn to a greenish-bluish color; this is what you want to see it do. Let the lavender steep for ten to fifteen minutes, over low heat.
- Meanwhile, mix a pitcher of frozen lemonade concentrate--like this--according to the instructions on the can. You can chill the lemonade while the lavender leaves steep, but you don't have to.
- After the lavender leaves have steeped for those ten to fifteen minutes, carefully pour the lavender infusion into the lemonade and stir to combine. (The color of this beverage wasn't lavender purple when I made it, possibly because I didn't have any of the lavender flowers to steep in the infusion, so I just added equal amounts of red and blue food coloring. This isn't a necessary step, but it gives the drink a pretty pastel hue.) Once you've done that, just fill a tall glass with ice cubes and pour the lavender lemonade over them, and enjoy!
I didn't pioneer the idea of making lavender lemonade, but after seeing it mentioned so many times on websites such as Pinterest, I just had to try making it myself. So, the idea isn't originally mine, but the recipe that you see written here is the one that I used when I made lavender lemonade a few weeks back. (And it was given rave reviews by the friends who sampled it, so trust me...the lavender and lemonade combination might sound a trifle bit odd, but it is a combination that totally works!)
Until my next post...
À bientôt!
Cait
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