Community returns to harvest Finchingfield's fields of lavender

  • ITV News Anglia's Hannah Pettifer went to see the stunning displays of lavender.

Despite one of the wettest winters on record, the recent warm spell has for one farmer heralded the start of harvest.

Julia Dimmock planted her very first lavender seedling in Finchingfield, Essex, six years ago and now runs her own lavender farm, complete with 5,500 full-grown plants.

Over three days every year the fields are harvested, all by local volunteers.

One the plant is picked, the stems are taken into the drying shed to be hung upside down. Credit: ITV News Anglia

"Last year we did it for the first time and it was absolutely fantastic" said Ms Dimmock.

"There were people who didn't know each other that lived down the same road who were single, isolated, widowed and they met and connected and brought everyone together in a completely different way.

"It brings something that they're proud of as well that they live nearby a place like this and they've personally contributed and they feel part of us as well."

The lavender is sold as dried loose lavender or made into lavender products Credit: ITV News Anglia

Just a section of the field is harvested, so throughout the summer visitors can still see a purple haze stretching over the Essex countryside.

But the cutting time is crucial. Too early and the perfume isn't as strong, too late and the colour is compromised.

Once picked, the stems are put into bunches and taken to the drying shed.

They're hung upside down for two weeks before being sold as dried loose lavender or made into lavender products.

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