Distillation Begins

So begins the season of distillation. We, Shannon and I, distilled a fair bit of Myrtus communus, aka sweet myrtle, and got a nice gallon of deliciously aromatic hydrosol with wee droplets of essential oil floating about. Sweet myrtle is great as part of a refreshing skin care regimen. Myrtle oil is known to help with acne and other troublesome skin ailments, but only if highly diluted. Our hydrosol is highly diluted, yet so very fragrant. Next up, if I can get out to the farm today, is the rose geranium. They're in bloom and ready for the picking. That should yield another gallon or so of fresh rose geranium hydrosol. What I REALLY want to get going is tea rose, but I think I will have to gather buds for a few days before I have enough to get a good, fragrant hydrosol out of it. There is the white sage, of course, and the musk sage, which is intoxicating, but it is the rare beauties I'd like to get done while they're blooming and throwing out new growth. We may distill some sweet grass for hydrosol further along in the year. And maybe some spearmint or peppermint, depending on how well they grow and multiply this year.