legarre

An essential guide to to the multifaceted plant, from a passionate gardener.

Lavender for All Seasons covers everything you need to know about the basics of growing lavender. Inspirational crafts and recipes that follow the seasons of the year will empower readers to discover how to integrate lavender beyond the garden and into the apothecary, pantry, and crafting space. For over twenty years, gardening expert Paola Legarre has been implementing sustainable farming practices, nourishing soil life, avoiding herbicides and synthetic fertilizers, rotating plantings with cover crops, and encouraging pollinators and beneficial insects through diversified plant hedgerows, and companion planting. With Legarre as a guide, readers will discover:

-The basics of growing lavender in different zones and conditions
-Growing requirements for healthy plants, including advice on pruning, pest control, propagation, and more
-An array of the best lavender varieties including species and cultivars for cooking, essential oils, crafting, landscaping and more
-Incorporating lavender as a key pollinator plant in your garden
-How to harvest and preserve lavender flowers for multiple uses, including techniques for drying and distilling
-Enjoying the harvest with delicious recipes incorporating lavender as an essential herb in the kitchen

Paola Legarre has been passionate about gardening since she was a child and has worked in organic farming since 1995. Her studies in development and agricultural economics at UC Berkeley and food and agribusiness at the University of Santa Clara inspired her to pursue her farming and marketing interests further. Eventually leading her to start her own farm, Sage Creations, where she first planted lavender in 2006. As her lavender fields grew, Paola extended her product line to include essential oil, bath and body products, dried flowers, and lavender plant starts. She has been trialing different species and cultivars of lavender to see which are best suited to the Colorado climate and its different zones. The farm now has more than 6 acres in lavender production and grows and propagates four species and more than sixty different cultivars of lavender. Through Sage Creations, Paola teaches workshops and classes, and has mentored many lavender growers and home gardeners through the years. She is a founding member of the Colorado Lavender Association and has presented at workshops and conferences across the United States, including the US Lavender Growers Association conference. Paola and her Sage Creations Farm have been featured in regional and national publications and on television and radio, including on PBS and Colorado Public Radio. Paola lives and farms with her husband and two children in Palisade, Colorado.