After the sudden onset of warm weather at the end of May, the herb harvest and wild collection began in earnest. While herbs do flower at lower temperatures, they produce little to no oil then. We therefore visit our harvesting sites once or twice beforehand to check the progress of the herbs. The high temperatures and constant wind accelerate drying, so the optimal harvest time can quickly pass. I always have particular difficulty timing the harvest of Immortelle. The oil content of our Immortelle is rather low; if they dry out too much, you obtain virtually no essential oil. However, as compensation, you always get the wonderful Immortelle hydrosol.
After distilling the Immortelle, we continued with the wild harvesting of Spanish Marjoram (Thymus mastichina). With its fluffy, light-colored blossoms, it is easily recognizable in the meadows. It's quite a zigzag course (sometimes rather prickly) to harvest the best plants. I've even lost my bearings a bit while "grazing" and thought I couldn't find my harvest tubs – they were well hidden in the shade.
The Lavender had been in bloom for some time, but now it had to give up its magnificent flowers. For a long time, I had to cope with many losses. But now it seems I've finally found the right seeds for our soil and climate. The Lavender I planted last year has developed well and produced beautiful blossoms. Even during the harvest, the wonderful aroma fills the air!
In mid-May, we had an unpleasant surprise: wild boars paid us a visit and thoroughly rooted up the newly planted rows of Greek mountain tea and Lavender. Unfortunately, they came back a second time after we had painstakingly repaired the rows. They don't seem to like lavender very much; this time only a few plants were pulled out. We're now putting up a fence around the area down here, otherwise the risk is simply too high.
