Hello everyone,
We are thrilled to share the highlights of May with you. It was a month rich in learning and sharing, culminating in our first harvest of medicinal and aromatic plants.
One week, 8 people and such energy !
This adventure was initiated by Claire, who has always been passionate about medicinal plants and has just completed a training course on plant harvesting, processing, distillation, and marketing. Claire has provided us with the opportunity to try our hand at harvesting our first batch of wonderfully fragrant medicinal plants.
This year was a trial run and focused on rockroses, but also butterfly lavender and eucalyptus. The most difficult part was finding the right still for rockroses (just so you know : you need a very large still because large quantities of this plant must be distilled during a few days to get a small amount of rockrose essence. (See figures at the end of the article!))
We were so lucky to have access to Theodora’s magnificent copper still, which she generously lent us for the lavender and eucalyptus.
Claire met Theodora during her training, and she turned out to be a true soul sister for her, and perhaps more discreetly, but certainly just as much, for many of us… Theodora has already been working for several years on her own productions in northern Portugal, under the name Flores Quintessencia.
Thanks to this wonderful reunion, Claire and Theodora naturally plan to collaborate in the future, particularly on plant harvests in the field.
By harvesting the year’s eucalyptus branches and leaves, the team was able to collect 25 kg of plants and produce 5 liters of hydrosol, 250 ml of essential oil. An extraordinary fragrance emerged, although not quantifiable, leaving an incredible olfactory impression! 😃
As for the harvest of 25 kg of butterfly lavender carried out on two different sites, it yielded more than 5 liters of hydrosol and around 200 ml of essential oil… all imbued with a delicious, wonderfully gentle fragrance!
While waiting for access to the large still located in Mertola, a charming little town an hour’s drive east of Terra Livha, the team turned their attention to the solar maceration of noble chamomile flower buds. Present in large quantities in the field, this maceration is proving to be very pleasant when used as massage oil, due to its soothing properties.
At the same time, the team has begun testing incense, mixing acacia resin, powdered eucalyptus, dried cistus leaves…
The results were successful: the solid or powdered incense burned well on charcoal, releasing its essential fragrance!
We also tested herbal teas made from dried rockrose leaves.
Known for their antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, and digestive properties, the test was conclusive. The taste is mild, with a pretty light green color.
We also took the opportunity to do some maintenance on the 2023 planting plots, as well as to prepare the camping area and clean the building, in preparation for the upcoming roof renovation work scheduled for August.
Finally, we finished with two days of rockrose harvesting.
Starting at 7 a.m., we harvested 250 kg of plants with a sickle (according to traditional methods). These plants were then taken for distillation to Vitor Menas, a certified organic distiller with a large professional stainless steel still. Vitor also helped and supported us greatly throughout the process.
We were very happy to get 65 liters of high-quality hydrosol and 90 ml of essential oil, as this plant has a very low essential oil yield (which is why we had to harvest so much to obtain these quantities).
All the products from these harvests have been developed as part of a test phase this year, with a view to developing a range of certified organic personal care and healing products, which we hope to distribute more widely as of 2026.
This month of May has been a wonderful collective adventure, rich in learning, sharing, and achievements. We ‘re looking forward to sharing the next steps in our explorations and creations with you soon.
Many thanks to all those who were involved: Agnès, Claire LV, Claire V, Hélène, Meriam, Nalini Sivasankarane, Padma, Quentin, Sridar, Théodora, Vitor 🙏💛
From the heart,
The Terra Livha team.
