Lavender Lust

Made a solo trip up to the Mt Shasta Lavender Farm to see what all the fuss was about and well, I get it now.  It's beautiful, but more than that it transported me back to Provence.  The place I first fell in love with lavender 8 years ago. 

I happen to have an obsessive love of lavender, it nearly verges on unhealthy at times.  Lavender lotion, lavender soap, lavender oil, lavender laundry detergent, lavender wands, lavender paintings.  If it has anything to do with lavender, I will want it.  So it's no surprise that when lavender season comes around each year I find my way to a nearby farm to walk through the fields, cut the flowers, and basically bliss out. 

The English lavender was in full bloom and thank goodness bees love me, cause they were pretty excited about the lavender too.  Mt. Shasta was mostly covered with clouds most of the afternoon, but even so the views were magnificent.

As son as I arrived, I grabbed a basket and began cutting bunches of lavender. I wanted to make a few lavender wands.  English lavender isn't really ideal for this, because of how short their stems are, but I figured I would give it a try anyway.  After wandering through the fields talking to the bees (now you know why they like me so much) and gathering my bunches, I went in and paid for my stems and settled at a little table under a bright blue umbrella.  I took out my ribbon and got started.  It was a lot harder than I remembered.  I'm not sure if this was because of the English Lavender or because I was so out of practice, but either way it took quite a bit of patience and hand eye coordination.  I only managed to make two, but I was still pretty proud of myself.

The French Lavender (longer stems) will be blooming soon and you better believe I will be back.  This time I might even drag a few people with me.  I will let you know how it goes.  

Tuscan Heights Lavender Festival

Several months ago my mom and I saw an ad for the Lavender Festival in Whitmore and we made a date. Well, last Saturday we put on tons of sunscreen and hats and headed out into the Northern California heat to spend a day in the lavender fields.

Upon arrival I was nearly in tears. I was overcome with emotion seeing all the lavender and I had this overwhelming feeling that the faeries loved this little piece of lavender heaven and I was being welcomed to this special place. They had so many different types of lavender and the scenery surrounding the fields was beautiful.

So after taking in the beautiful views we did the next logical thing, head down to the wine tasting. We sampled a white lavender wine, which of course I loved. Next we sampled a petite shiraz that we both liked, it was very light and fruity, super easy to drink. We took our wine and wondered into the garden and nursery area. They had an amazing herb garden set up like a wheel spiraling out from a sundial. They had all different kinds of thyme, sage, and oregano. I have heard about herb gardens like this, but never actually seen it. I really liked the layout and would love to find a way to do this one day. There was a cute little bench under an oak tree so we enjoyed the rest of our wine in the shade.

Next we wondered over to the craft area and watched them make lavender wands and sachets. I saw a new way to tie off the bottom of the wands and I'm going to try it soon. We braved the swarms of bees and took some pictures in the fields. Mom liked the really dark lavender even though it didn't smell as strong as the provencial (my favorite) which is used for the wands and sachets. Just near the craft booth they were doing massages, mom was up in there in a flash finding out how to get one. I turned around for one minute and next thing I know she's on the table telling them how tight her shoulders are. The moment was very typical of her, so I found a chair in the shade and camped out. Right behind the massage area one of the owners of the farm was giving a talk about how they make lavender oil. Perfect timing, I have always been curious about this. He had the machine all set up and he even passed around some lavender oil that had just been distilled. It smelled amazing. Some lady near me said it smelled too strong and another lady said it burned her hand when she rubbed it into her skin. I did my best not to roll my eyes under my sunglasses. If you aren't into lavender in all it's strong earthy glory, go home crazy ladies and leave more for me. The speaker also said that we shouldn't be afraid of all the bees, because they were all intoxicated by the lavender. This is just helps prove my theory that lavender can solve any problem. At some point mom's massage finished and she looked so loopy and relaxed I thought I better jump on the table next.

What followed was an amazing lavender massage by two lovely new age ladies who worked on all my countless knots. I think heaven is something like this. An outdoor massage in a lavender field while live Celtic music fills the air and two sets of hands convince all your muscles to relax. I was in such a daze when I was done that I ran right into the top edge of the tent and thwacked my head really hard and I didn't even care. See how relaxed I was?

After we finally pulled ourselves together we wondered back down to the wine tasting and sampled a sangria wine cooler. It was really cool, sweet and delicious. We found a little grassy garden next to a pond and kicked back in the shade. The heat was unbearable, just the way mom and I like it. We hung out here for a long while listening to the music and talking. So many times during the day I kept being reminded of Europe, something about the whole experience felt like a vacation to somewhere beautiful and provencial. When we finally got the energy we went and got lavender ice cream to help us cool down. I bought myself some lavender oil and a grosso lavender plant for Mercury's garden. The last thing we did that day was pick ourselves some big bunches of lavender. I picked it for lavender wands and mom picked hers to dry and display in the house.

As we left the farm I felt so grateful to have spent such an amazing day with my mom in such a beautiful place. It really is a hidden northern California gem and I would recommend it to anyone who has any love or appreciation for lavender.