Everything’s blooming lovely for lavender

Since the pandemic hit, demand for the fragrant plant with antibacterial properties has surged. Nicole Mowbray reports

Elizabeth I used it to fend off stenches and the plague, while Queen Victoria ate it as jelly with her roast mutton. Now, it seems, British lavender is once again having a moment among its countrymen and women. There are not many business “winners” emerging from the pandemic, but one of the most unlikely seems to be British lavender farms, which are reporting an unprecedented demand for their crop since lockdown began.

Despite challenging weather conditions – a wet winter, a

May frost, then drought – and incorporating social distancing procedures for workers, home-grown lavender has been enjoying a boom, which growers are chalking up to the crop’s natural antibacterial and antiviral properties – as well as its sleep-enhancing properties.

At 1,300 acres, the family-run Castle Farm in Kent (hopshop.co.uk) is the UK’S biggest lavender farm. It’s run by Lorna Roberts alongside her husband and four children, her brothers and her parents, William and Caroline, who established the fields in the Eighties.

Since the pandemic hit, Castle Farm has seen online demand for its £8 lavender oil – which is grown, extracted, distilled, bottled and sold on the farm – quadruple. Sales of the farm’s sleepinducing scented pillow spray, teas and skin balm containing English lavender and hops (the latter of which are also grown on the farm) are up by 300 per cent.

“People aren’t just buying it because it smells nice,” says Lorna Roberts. “It’s thanks to lavender’s antiseptic and antiviral uses. Soaps are popular, people are making cleaning products with the oil, which is extracted and distilled within two hours of picking, here on the farm. “There is also a huge demand for effective yet natural relaxation aids to help people sleep, or feel less anxious.” According to a study published last week by King’s College London and Ipsos MORI, 63 per cent of Britons have experienced worse sleep during the lockdown and #Cantsleep has been trending on social platforms. More research, this time by the Office for National Statistics, found that in March 2020 50 per cent of us described our anxiety levels as “high”, up from 21 per cent at the end of 2019. The organic Mayfield Lavender farm (mayfieldlavender.com) on the Surrey Downs also reports an increase in online sales.

“Our soaps have been flying off the shelves and our organic oils, too, which people use to make their own aromatherapy remedies,” say owners Brendan and Lorna Maye, who have been running the Instagramfriendly farm – complete with its recognisable red telephone box – since 2006 with their two children and English sheepdog. “We have also seen a huge uplift in interest in our organic lavender plants. We do not use any pesticides or fertiliser on the farm, which makes it special.” Lavender is an ancient plant and part of the mint family, first prescribed by Dioscorides, the Greek physician who believed it offered protection from the plague and could help heal wounds.

Legend has it that the plant was brought to Britain by the Romans, who carried it in their first aid kits. Bunches were burnt to honour the gods, placed in bedclothes to guard against mites, and clothes were washed using it to repel moths and lice (hence the etymology of the Italian verb lavare, meaning to wash or purify). Despite being seen as a Mediterranean crop, lavender was grown widely on British soil until the end of the First World War, when the majority of fields died out due to a combination of crop disease and demand for land. But the self-care movement of the past few years has heralded its gradual return.

“Castle Farm has been in my family since my great-greatgrandfather brought 17 milking cows down from Ayrshire on the train,” says Roberts. “My grandfather grew fruit trees and cabbages, my parents diversified again, switching to essential oils.

“English lavender does really well here in the chalky, flint flecked, free-draining soil. Castle Farm is in a valley so our fields are gently sloping, and in full sun, which is essential.”

There are hundreds of different types of lavender. Those iconic Provencal lavender fields are, in the main, not growing English lavender, rather the high-yielding lavandin, which acts as a stimulant rather than a relaxant, due to its high camphor content.

“Lavandin opens up the airways, stimulates the brain and wakes you up,” explains Roberts. “It keeps moths and insects away. English lavender, on the other hand, is very calming and healing, with high levels of antiseptic.”

Rosie Elms, at Lordington Lavender (lordingtonlavender. co.uk) near Chichester in Sussex, believes that their upswing in sales is due to the crop’s bacteria-fighting properties. “Our hand wash, hand cream and room fragrance have been selling well,” she says. “The pillow spray and room fragrance contains 65 per cent alcohol alongside our essential oil, making it perfect for sanitising.”

She says the farm has also seen a growth over lockdown in people using lavender essence for baking cakes and shortbread.

And there’s good news for Instagram fans when the fields bloom this month. While the four-acre Lordington will remain closed, Castle Farm and Mayfield will open for visitors this year

– but do check their individual websites for special restrictions. In some cases, field visits need to be booked in advance to ensure adequate social distancing.

“We’ve also had another completely unexpected rise,” adds Roberts, at the end of our conversation, “and that’s in people wanting to come and help pick the crop. Let me tell you, it’s back-breaking work… and probably one of the least relaxing things one can do with lavender.”

‘Lavender oil is an effective yet natural relaxation aid to help you sleep or relax’