Well, it’s that time of year where we replant old or non productive plants here at the farm. This year we will replant around 2,000 plants of several varieties….but first…we have to get the old ones out of the ground. Fall is finally here with…
Staff continues to defoliate lavender here on the farm and a select crew is making bundles like mad. All are shipped out as soon as they are arranged and it’s a struggle to keep up with orders…People LIKE our bundles….When we first started making bundles…
Now that the summer is over, staff is busy getting ready for the holiday “rush” that occurs every November and December. We have also decided to start hosting weddings and receptions at the farm during the summer months and have secured a wedding planner to…
Now, with hurricane John having dissipated up into the southwest U.S., the residents of my little town of La Ribera are digging their way out. Electricity returned to the town yesterday so I now have somewhat of a link to them and can respond to…
I just found out yesterday that my casa in mexico was destroyed by Hurricane John…so sad after all the work that I’ve put into it over the past couple of years….but…that’s the price of living in paradise, I guess. I will drive down next month…
These past couple of days have been very anxious for me. It all culminated last night when hurricane John came ashore on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. I have a modest little place down there and it appears John thumped it right on the nose…
It’s been too long now since I’ve checked in…my blogger was “broken” for almost two weeks so took that time to do some fishing out on the west end of the peninsula. My daughter from Eugene, Oregon visited the farm with the mountaineering club she…
All the flowers are in full bloom at the farm at this time. The Echinacea is going crazy and some varieties of sunflowers are over 12 feet high..wow!
Yesterday found me hunkered down by the still for most of the day…We’ve been distilling the variety “Grosso” lately so the yields are quite good… Crowds of people continue to come to the farm and a lot of my time is spent answering questions about…
I returned yesterday from my place in Southern Baja…I remember now why I very seldom go down there in August; hot, humid, and wet…so VERY wet…It rained for two days and accumulated 12 inches in that time. My place was literally an island for some…
The day is finally here!…I leave for mexico tonite and will be gone a week…from what I understand, it’s incredibly hot and humid down there but I don’t care..I just need some down time and a period away from the farm…I’ve not had a day…
As the crew continues to cut lavender, all the leased barns throughout the valley are filling up with Purple Haze’s bundles…this will be the last day of helichrysum harvest, much to Kent’s delight; he has been distilling almost round the clock now for 4 days….We’ve…
Wow!…Kent McKay stayed on the still last nite till midnight cooking helichrysum…He has been SO instrumental in taking care of this oil. http://www.essentialaura.com is his website and it’s very informative. It’s really foggy here this morning so harvest of the lavender will be delayed till…
The entire crew is here this morning early, (6 am), for harvest..Kent has already gotten the still fired up and will be cranking out his first batch of helichrysum oil of the day in just a short time. Jose is harvesting more helichrysum in the…
Yesterday was so hot, (mid nineties), that i pulled the harvesting crew out of the fields as i was fearing heatstroke, sunstroke, or just plain stroke…SO searing hot and us “northerners” just arent used to it…will will start a dawn tomorrow morning and harvest helichrysum…
Jose and the crew were able to harvest ALL of the Provence yesterday and will start on the Hidcote Giant today..looks like the temps will be in the 90s as the day wears on so will have to get after it early to avoid any…
Woke to a fog free day this morning and can now see it will be the perfect day for the crew to harvest. The farm crew shows up at 6am to get ready and will start cutting as soon as the dew is off the…
The chaos continues at Purple Haze 4 days now past the annual festival….the parking lot is full from opening till closing and harvest of the flowers is in full swing…thankfully, we have beautiful weather to get the crop in as usually this time of year…
This is the first post ever done to this blog, and there will be more to come. Please stay tuned for information regarding the ongoings at the Purple Haze Lavender Farm.