After a long pause, the Lavender Abbey newsletters are returning and I’m excited to share fresh updates and stories from the farm that I hope you will enjoy.
Our first feature focuses on Culinary Lavender.
As many of you know, in December 2025 we received MPI (Ministry of Primary Industries) approval to produce and sell culinary lavender buds and culinary lavender oil. This certification marks an important step forward for us and our customers.
MPI approval is significant because it confirms that Lavender Abbey meets strict standards to ensure our culinary lavender products are clean and safe. As part of this certification, MPI conducts an annual inspection of our facilities and processes to verify ongoing consistency, quality, and cleanliness.
We currently stock three different varieties of culinary buds, along with finely ground culinary lavender.
Our culinary buds are perfect for creating lavender syrup, adding depth to stews, enhancing spice blends, pairing with or substituting rosemary, making lavender ice-cream, baking, or infusing any recipe where the buds can be steeped to release their aroma and flavour.
The ground culinary lavender is nice for baking, being ground means it blends smoothly into your recipes and gives a gentle even flavour without the strong burst you get when you bite into a bud.
VARIETIES OF CULINARY LAVENDER WE PRODUCE AT LAVENDER ABBEY
Violet Intrigue – is floral but not too assertive, it has a clear and classic lavender flavour, it blends very well with Chamomile.
Blue Mountain White – has a soft and subtle floral character, also a slightly citrus and sweet flavour. Blue Mountain White, as its name suggests is a white lavender. It is ideal for a light refreshing tea, syrup or my favourite dessert Panna Cotta, just perfect!
Hidcote – has a more intense flavour than the two above, so if you like a bigger hit of lavender, then Hidcote is the one for you. It also has a Citrus/Herbal hit, being more intense it requires the most restraint. Ideal in cooking, ice-cream, honey, cocktails or any recipe where you want the lavender to shine.
The lavender buds are supplied in a food safety foil packet and contains 20gm of lavender buds https://www.lavenderabbey.co.nz/product/culinary-lavender-buds-20gm/
The ground lavender comes in a cute octagonal jar and contains 5gms of ground lavender https://www.lavenderabbey.co.nz/product/culinary-lavender-ground-5gm-jar/
We also stock Violet Intrigue and Hidcote Culinary Lavender Oil. Each comes in a 5ml bottle, as just one drop goes a long way, so the bottle will last you quite a while. Some of our culinary products are on our website – if the item you want is not there, let me know and I’ll add it.
In my culinary endeavours I have found the lavender oil easy to use and creates the most wonderful lavender ice-cream. One thing to remember about using culinary lavender is a little goes a long way, so don’t be too heavy handed with your lavender inclusions.
We will have a Lavender and Chamomile Tea Blend available when our shop reopens on 4 July 2026, plus other lavender teas and tea related products.
We are also working with a local small batch maker to produce lavender relish, lavender and apricot jam, lavender vinaigrette, lavender infused olive oil, lavender and blueberry sauce to sell in the onsite shop plus lavender fudge for our Pick Your Own Lavender open days in late December 2026 and January 2027.
Our next seasons open days are on the website or follow the link below: https://www.lavenderabbey.co.nz/pyo-lavender/