This month our Royal Velvet Members are receiving: our to-die-for Cold & Sinus Balm, our Muscle Gel, and our new Natural Soy Lavender Candle.

This is the perfect season to use our Cold and Sinus Balm. For sinus or even for allergies when your nasal passages become congested, rub a bit of our herbal cold balm under your nose and inhale. You'll find quick relief making it easier to breathe. Just like our Lavender Sleep Balm, this item is crafted with our pure organic lavender essential oil blended with cooling essential oils and packaged in a handy ½ oz. jar for travel (check it if you fly) or home. Sure beats using Vicks!.

Some of you may have been shoveling snow recently. Brrr! Or maybe you’re just feeling achy because of the cold. Or you’ve worked out a bit too much at the gym. Use our Lavender Muscle Gel. It warms and heals sore muscles with powerful essential oils blended with aloe and witch hazel. You'll love this aromatic rub.

Although we still carry our very popular Beeswax Lavender Candle, we now have available a 100% Pure Soy Lavender Candle made with natural soy wax and delicately scented with lavender, packaged in a pretty portable gold tin. This candle is perfect to use as a travel candle (but you will have to check it if you fly).

We have also included a pretty, little Lavender sachet. Tuck into your desk drawer to have it handy whenever you need a squeeze of lavender to calm yourself.

Featured in June 2003 Yankee Magazine

These are sure to be a hit! Serve them as appetizers at a cocktail party, or for a light dinner.

• 1 lb. bread or pizza dough (see below)
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt or to taste
• 1 tsp. dried lavender buds
• 1 1/2 tsp. herbes de Provence (Karen England’s recipe is on our website)
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 10 to 12 oz. goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400°. Divide room-temperature dough into four balls and let rest 10 minutes under a damp cloth. Grease two baking sheets. Shape each ball into a circular disk about 6 to 7 inches across. Place the disks on the baking sheets and keep covered 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the salt, lavender, and herbes de Provence. Press the handle of a wooden spoon into dough to make indentations at one-inch intervals. Bake 6 to 7 minutes or until cooked, but still pale. Remove from the oven and reduce heat to 375°. Brush loaves with olive oil, and then sprinkle with three-quarters of the salt and herb mixture. Top with goat cheese, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the loaves. Sprinkle with remaining herb mixture and olive oil, then return to the oven. Bake another 5 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

Dough You can use "store-bought" bread or pizza dough, or you can make your own. Here is the recipe:

• 1 ¼ oz. envelope active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 3/4 c. warm water (100° to 110°)
• 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Combine yeast, sugar, and 1/4 c. warm water; let stand 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Add yeast mixture, remaining water, and olive oil. Beat at low speed with dough-hook attachment, or mix by hand until dough comes together. Beat with dough hook at medium speed 4 minutes, or knead by hand for about 10 minutes. Form into a ball, place in a bowl covered with plastic or a kitchen towel, and leave in a draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down dough and proceed as above.

One of the Lavandula angustifolias or English lavenders, Munstead Lavender is fragrant and robust. Munstead lavender is named for Munstead Woods in Surrey, England, the home of famous garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. (Her brother, Walter, was a friend of the author, Robert Louis Stevenson. The Jekyll’s last name was borrowed for the title of Stevenson’s famous Jekyll & Hyde psychological thriller). To historians, Munstead Woods is one of the most famous gardens in England. Gertrude Jekyll employed Edwin Lutyens, a leading 20th century English architect, to design the house. For her 'small garden' of 15 acres, Jekyll employed 14 gardeners.

Munstead blooms profusely in the spring, after which a good pruning will provide an attractive gray bush with highly aromatic leaves. Munstead flowers are full of rich, sweet flavor and are especially nice when cooking with sweets.

We’re often asked about growing from seeds especially when our visitors see so many ‘volunteers’ pop up from our Munstead plants.

”Propagation by seed is slow (six months to transplant size) and germination rates are low and sporadic. In addition, because most lavender varieties are clones, vegetative propagation (cuttings, layerings, and division of roots) is highly recommended to retain desirable traits. Propagation by seed creates overlapping traits and further variation within cultivars. Plants grown from seed are variable in growth habit, color, and essential oil composition and are unsuitable for commercial harvesting. If seeds are to be used they should be planted in late spring or early summer. Plants should be thinned to 24-36 inches apart with rows 30 to 36 inches apart.” Quoted from: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/staff/jm davis/lav.html

Our Organic Lavender Body Mists are made from our very own organic distillate waters and blended with various essential oils for specific uses.

Lightly mist yourself or your space for uplifting body and mind. We carry Lavender Citrus, Lavender Rose Geranium, Lavender Rosemary, and our Classic Lavender.

We recommend Lavender Citrus mist and Lavender Rosemary mist for an invigorating uplift, Lavender Rose Geranium for reducing hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms, and of course, our Classic Lavender mist for calming and relaxation.

For one month only, receive a 15% discount on our selection of Body Mists. Please use promotional code OBM2007 when prompted at check out.

The history of candle making does not belong to any one country as it was developed independently in many countries. The Egyptians formed candles that were made out of beeswax as early as 3000 BC. The Chinese created candles from whale fat during the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC). In early China and Japan, tapers were made with wax from insects and seeds, wrapped in paper. In India, wax from boiling cinnamon was used for temple candles. During the first century AD, indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest fused oil from the eulachon, or "candlefish", for illumination. Excavations at Pompeii, Italy, revealed several candelabra. The oldest candle manufacturers still in existence are Rathbornes Candles, founded in Dublin in 1488.

Soy Candles

Using soy wax to make candles is a fairly new idea. Soy wax was developed as an alternative to petroleum or paraffin based waxes. These are by- products of the fossil fuel industry, produce carbon dioxide and can give off harmful soot and pollutants when burned. Soy is a natural, plant based wax that produces a clean flame with relatively no soot given off. It burns longer and gives a brighter flame, reducing the amount of candles needed to give the same amount of light.

Enthusiasts point out that soy candles are helping to reduce the amount of petrol used – thus helping the environment. They also have benefits for people who suffer allergies, and add minimal pollution to the atmosphere of your home or the planet! Soy is a natural resource, and therefore fully biodegradable. And using soy helps our farmers.

Another area where soy candles are advantageous is safety – they burn with a cooler flame than paraffin which means that containers are less likely to heat up to a temperature where they may crack or split. (Of course, any naked flame can still be a safety hazard, and should never be left unattended.)

Beeswax Candles

While beeswax has long been the alternative natural choice for quality wax, it is also a relatively expensive product and it is not easy to work with. The soybean process is more economical and less complex. Beeswax is a natural substance that brings an inherently unique color variation to each of our candles. Each season, each batch of beeswax has its own unique natural color. Beeswax is a product from a bee hive, specifically the hive of any species of honey bee. Beeswax is secreted by young honey bees of a certain age. Western honey bees use the beeswax to build honeycomb cells in which their young are raised and honey and pollen are stored. To produce their wax, bees must consume about eight times as much honey by mass. Estimates are that bees fly 150,000 miles to yield one pound of beeswax. Its color varies from nearly white to brownish, but most often a shade of yellow, depending on purity and the type of flowers gathered by the bees. The burning characteristics of beeswax candles differ from those of paraffin. A beeswax candle flame has a "warmer," more yellow color than that of paraffin, and the color of the flame may vary depending on the season in which the wax was harvested. Beeswax has been used since ancient times; traces of it were found in the paintings in the Lascaux cave and in Egyptian mummies. Egyptians used it in shipbuilding as well. In the Roman period, beeswax was used as a waterproofing agent for painted walls. Nations subjugated by Rome sometimes paid tribute or taxes in beeswax. In the Middle Ages beeswax was considered valuable enough to become a form of currency.

Fragrant Kitchen Rinse

Add 4 drops of lavender essential oil to a pint of water. Pour into a spray bottle, store away in a cool dark place. Use as a final rinse after cleaning kitchen surfaces.

If you'd like to purchase essential oil but don't know which one to buy, start with Grosso. It's the most familiar to the general public. When you visit the farm, you can test the others and begin to stock your essential oil cabinet with more sophisticated scents.

Members Referral Gift

If you know anyone who would like to become a Royal Velvet Member of the lavender club, simply have them go to the products page of our website and register. Once that member has been in good standing for 2 member box cycles (4 months), we’ll issue you an internet store credit for $20.

Please email us all your referrals for credit.

We are excited to announce another convenient location for you to find our wonderful handcrafted products. Lynn, the owner of the brand new Valley Center Antique Cottage, has recently opened a warm and charming cottage featuring antique furnishings, art, architectural elements, primitives, decorative accessories, linens, gift items, vintage clothing and more! Stop by and visit with Lynn and tell her we sent you!

The shop is located at 28904 Valley Center Rd. behind Shoemaker Realty. (760) 751- 2551

Open from 10:30 until 4:30, Wednesdays through Sundays.

Stop by and visit with Lynn and tell her we sent you!

The farm will open for the 2007 season on April 25. Hours this year are 10-5, Wednesdays through Sundays. The festival is scheduled for the last weekend in June, the 23rd and 24th from 10-5. For more information on classes, workshops, events, Tea Parties, tours, Private craft classes and more go to our website.