Drying Lavender

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned several times before that I love lavender. This year I had planted several plants, and they are finally starting to bloom! It has been exciting watching the stems shoot up and bud. 

Tonight, I was finally able to "harvest" the first of my crop. It was a small amount, but I was still pretty excited. My plan is to dry most of it, and use it for decoration, wreaths, homemade soaps - and maybe use some for culinary purposes!

I found this website How to Dry Lavender that listed several methods of drying lavender. I was pretty surprised to see it was possible to dry it in the microwave. Since I had a small amount, I decided to try the microwave method. I'm amazed at how quick and easy it was! This obviously wouldn't be ideal for large quantities, but it worked perfectly.

Simply lay out the lavender on a paper towel and microwave for 1 minute. If it is still not dry, continue to add 30 seconds on, checking after each interval. It literally took less than 2 minutes for mine. It also smells absolutely amazing in my kitchen right now. 

Within minutes I was able to cut, dry, and use my lavender. We have several floating shelves throughout the house, so I thought it would be a nice touch to add some dried lavender.