Catching a wave…

How we harvest lavender at Akaroa Lavender farm

Kia ora koutou

So how do you catch a wave… or to answer one of our most common questions, how do you harvest 6000 plus lavender plants?

If you step back in time our first attempt was with a hand held sickle and and a bottle of wine. For clarity the wine was for drinking and the sickle for cutting lavender into small bunches.

After many weeks of this we “upgraded” to using a hedge trimmer. One person would bunch up the flowers the other would cut at an appropriate height, making sure to miss the fingers of the person holding the bunch! That person was wearing steel chain gloves - enough to stop any miscalculation.

A few years later, and with all our fingers intact, we purchased a tea harvester. Originally built to harvest tea the machine is now widely used in the lavender, herb and culinary industries. You can see it in action here

If you visit us in January of February next year you may see the harvester in action on a guided tour at Akaroa Lavender farm.

Check out some lavender magic on Instagram!

Follow us on Facebook to see more photos

Ka kite

The team at Akaroa Lavender