Growing & distilling rosemary essential oil and rosemary hydrosol in South Gippsland,  Victoria, Australia.

Hi, my name is Bridget and I am Granite Bar Rosemary. I am a qualified aromatherapist and a multi media  artist. Six years ago my partner and I started looking for a property in South Gippsland where we could grow rosemary and distill for essential oil and hydrosol.  We found the perfect property in the foothills of the Strezlecki Ranges with an open area for planting to the northeast, views to the sea, and embraced by bush. We planted 500 Salvia rosmarinus (rosemarinus officinalis) tubes in April the following year, then armed with a small copper still set about learning the art of traditional steam distillation.

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It has taken time; waiting for the rosemary to grow, learning how to distill, and setting up the distillery. Although the intention was to limit ourselves to one plant species of course the temptation to experiment is always there. Last year I did a co-distillation of rosemary and geranium with superb results. I have done small batches of chamomile and clary sage, which I will do again, bearing in mind that one of our core values is only to distill plants we grow here in South Gippsland.