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The word
"essential" in the context of any essential oil refers to the true essence of the plant. Thus,
the essential oil of the plant should fully and properly represent the plant through the
aroma of the oil.
Different
plants require that the essential oil be extracted from different parts of the plant. For
Lavenders, Lavandins and Immortelles, this part is the top flowering part of the herb. For
Rosemary and Myrtle, it is mainly the leaves but can also be flower (and berry for Myrtle)
if they are present during harvest.
- Of the many kinds of Lavenders and Lavandins, only relatively few provide both
enough essential oil and of a pleasing aroma for extraction. These particular kinds only flower
for a few months. During a short window of summer (for us at Stone Rise Farm, around
mid-December to mid-January), the farm is at its busiest - the harvesting of the flowers.
- Once harvested, either manually or mechanically, modern convention is to take
the daily harvest to the distillery for distillation that same day. The harvest is then
processed through a large still, where steam is used to extract the oil from the flowers. For
details, please see the FAQs.
- The extracted oil is then stored in appropriate containers for later sale.
- At Stone Rise Farm, we harvest conventionally. From then on though, we employ
different methods in the production chain. At this stage, we cannot disclose our work practices
or materials handling in detail; however, reasons for our methods can be found in the FAQs.
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