I didn't want to wash my hands for the rest of the day. Farmer Kevin beckoned us to rub our hands over the lavender foliage to secrete the oil, even though the flowers hadn't bloomed. It had been a tough spring, he said, which kept his fields from overflowing with purple deliciousness when we were there. At least the fragrance was abundant! He taught us the difference between his herbal/culinary English lavender and his French lavender, used for room sprays and sachets. He explained how he and his wife impressively create 107 different items from the attractive little plant.
(sadly, my camera kept stopping throughout the tour or I'd have more photos--I'd say this is enough though! :)
Snapping a photo of any tiny bit of purple I could find since our trip was a smidgey early in the year.
Meeting new homeschoolers at the end of the school year :)
Describing the difference between the English and French plants.
A little one enjoys one of Farmer Kevin's dogs.
More tiny buds attract me.
Molly with the soon-to-bloom lavender in the background.
Meg under a locust tree.
Strolling through the fields.
Listening to a lesson on hazelnut trees that Farmer Kevin just planted.
Sniffing lavender.
Farmer Kevin shows us the aviary--a non-living one--phew!
The very busy, active one--zoomed in, of course :)
What has happened to all the bees? He shares it's pesticides on local crops and rough winters because there was plenty of honey in the bee boxes.
Saving the bees that pollinate the very important lavender and other crops and plants.
Explaining all the parts of a bee box.
The kids got to try on the bee suit.
Looking for splashes of purple to satisfy my colour starvation :)
Taste-testing the lavender honey and lavender caramel sauce.
Yummy!
Perusing the lovely little lavender shop.
Eventually, I did wash my hands, but not until we returned home and I sampled the honey I had bought. I think there is nothing so delightful as visiting a farm of any sort and relishing in its goodness.
I couldn't stop humming...
Lavender's blue,
Dilly dilly,
Lavender's green,
When I am king,
Dilly dilly,
You shall be queen.
6 comments:
I really enjoyed this, Heather. We visited a local lavender farm for the first time in April. I bought honey, too. The honey was the reason we went, actually; someone had told me that, if I eat a tsp of local honey every day, it will help with my allergies. But guess who hasn't opened the beautiful jar???
What a wonderful educational outing! I would love to take Molly to that farm. Happy to see you still blogging in June😍
Thanks, Brandee. Time to open up that honey! :)
Jo, I think you're a homeschooler by nature :) I'll text the location to you.
Love this post and definitely love supporting farms. I just posted today about our finished chicken coop :-) Can't wait to start homeschooling my youngest this August... if only I could convince my oldest...
Have a great day!
Blessings,
Jill
I so loooove lavender too Heather and wouldn't want to wash my hands either! I've never heard of lavender honey. Sounds like a wonderful (and educational) place to visit!
Thanks, Jill. So excited to read about your chicken coop. You'll have to post about your new adventures in homeschooling too!
Julia, I know you use the best, yummy fragrances in your soaps! I'm not sure how they infused the lavender into the honey but it's good!
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