Dummermuth uses the organic lavender to make essential oil, which goes into salves, soaps and bath salts, and also into lavender-flavoured jam and even a liqueur. Her idealism and love of lavender is evident in her motto: Grow slow and strong, like the plant. Surrounded by houses, her 700-square-metre field is located in Oberstammheim in canton Zurich.
The Mediterranean plant belongs to the mint family. The ancient Egyptians used Lavandula angustifolia to obtain precious essential oil for embalming mummies. The Romans, Greeks and Arabs used lavender for personal hygiene, as a laundry detergent, and as medicine. Thanks to its calming, anticonvulsant and balancing effect, today it is used in teas, tinctures, oils and creams to treat flatulence, insomnia, skin problems, and many other maladies.
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Succulents and cacti in all their glory
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Spiky, flowery, large and small – round, columnar, or looking like small stones. The Zurich Succulent Plant Collection contains more than 25,000 succulent plants – that is water-storing plants from dry regions. They include cacti, agaves, aloes and stonecrops. (Text: Isobel Leybold-Johnson, Images: Ester Unterfinger)
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The Federal Statistical Office said that overall in 2014 there were just over 54,000 farming operations in 2014, down 2.1% on 2013. The total surface area devoted to agriculture was stable at around one million hectares. “Although the number of agricultural businesses in total has dipped, the number of organic farms continues to rise (+2.4%),”…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.