2016 Lavender Farm Plans!

It's midway through January 2016 and our plans for the lavender farm are in full swing.   Over the past year we've prayed, planned, worked, researched and finally have taken the leap of faith to construct a beautiful barn!!  Just ask Jayson, our patient and accommodating sales associate from Sand Creek Post and Beam and he would vouch for the number of revisions and questions we had during the creative phase of our dream.  September 11, 2015 the barn arrived and we have been watching as each week our dream becomes more and more of a reality!!

Our BIG plans are to OPEN our lavender farm to the public this spring!!!!  We are shooting for an official OPENING to be the first weekend in April!!  We hope to become a destination place where families can take in God's good gift of creation while learning about and experiencing the benefits of lavender.  Our minds swirl with anticipation as we think of great things to share with you all!!  We are very excited and quite nervous as we feel the pinch of passing time and April quickly approaches!!

So, I'll leave you to enjoy a peek through the many phases of our "barn raising" and we hope to see each of you this spring when we OPEN!!!

Much love,

Tracy

Preparing for Winter

The blooming season for our lavender has come to an end for 2014 and you'd think life
at the farm would slow down just a bit.  I suppose it has to some degree and yet this time also begins
 the big count down, the count down to the first frost!  With the frost on its way
 comes what is affectionately known as "the list".

Gardening is a lot like a race . . . a race against time and weather.  In the spring we race
against the rains to prepare the soil, clean up the fields, sow grass seed, ready irrigation lines, replace lavender and more. . . all to prepare for the great awakening of the plants and the June
bloom to come!
But the fall of the year seems to carry more tasks and pressure to get the lavender
 nicely tucked in weeks before the first frost.

 That's where "the list" comes into play.  Our list helps us prioritize the things that "must get done" and plan our weekends so in the end we have measured productivity.  Our list this fall was loaded - cut wood, blow out irrigation lines, gather leaves, do the final weeding and harvesting of the lavender, assemble a green house and so much more.  The one item we were almost giddy to have completed was giving the lavender a hard pruning in time to
recover a bit before the first frost.  With the temperatures so cold this past week
and a dusting of snow already on the ground - we are especially thankful our
 lavender was ready! Oh and the plants!  They look so happy, compact, and cute after their
 awesome haircut.  Twenty-one rows, approximately 190 feet long pruned and ready for
 winter gives cause for celebration!   Here are a few pictures of our winter-ready beauties.

  What's on your list?  How do you make your tasks manageable and complete?
We are always open to encouragement and fresh ideas!

 

A Girl Can Dream, Can't She?

When you move from a southern California subdivision with a postage stamp yard (that we loved) and purchase a little breathing room in the country, you can't help but dream of a barn.  My husband and I have shared the love of barns for ten years now; always talking, dreaming, wishing, and sighing each time we pass by those beautiful wooden structures that epitimize an era of hard work and simplicity.  If you've ever visited our home, a pictoral barn book rests listfully on our coffee table and has taken this place of honor for years as we continue our love of these grand buildings.  Well, just so happens, that when it comes to dreams,
 barn dreams . . . my husband and I can come up with some doozies!

If you've had the opportunity to read our lavender story you know our first plants went into the ground in 2009.  Since that time we've desired to open a little shop on the farm.  A place where people can come out and visit our lavender farm, walk the rows, take in the beauty of sight and fragrance and simply enjoy the goodness of God our Creator.  Well, a little shop becomes a little shop/storage facility for our equipment, which in turn becomes something even more grand . . . a venue!

 With the prompting of our oldest, we set out to visit a barn venue in Fayette, Missouri - Blue Bell Farms.  Oh. My. Goodness!  I just cannot tell you how exciting it was for me to visit a beautiful farm and meet such a hospitable host.  I contacted Derek, our host and one of the owners of Blue Bell Farm, on a Friday.  The very next afternoon we were standing in the middle of this beautiful, traditional Scandinavian style barn asking every question we could think of while soaking in every answer shared.  Derek was so exceptionally kind to give our family a full tour; right down to the bathrooms and absolutely gorgeous bride's room!  Oh the bride's room; the details, the care, the thought that went into designing this special room, swoon!!  This room alone will make you feel like a princess with its light filled windows and every detail maticulously pondered.  Lovely, just lovely!

Needless to say, we've been inspired . . . inspired to at least think a little outside the "barn" on this one.   What if people not only came to our farm for the enjoyment of the lavender, but also to use our farm as a possible venue for weddings, receptions, ministry outings, anniversaries, conferences, retreats?  What if . . . and the dreaming begins anew!  New questions, new fears, new direction in our prayers.  It's all very exciting and truly the possibilities are endless.  I hope you are as excited as we are and might have a curious question or two . . . like timeline?  Lord willing, the sight work would be done this late fall with construction of the building in the spring.  We are excited, nervous, a little intimidated but always confident in the Lord.
 "A man's heart devises his way, but the LORD directs his steps."  Proverbs 16:1
Have fun checking out this lovely farm at bluebellfarm.org.

Helping Hands

May 10th of this year, with the help of sweet friends, we planted 10 more rows of lavender in the lower portion of our fields.  Wow, I just can't thank our friends enough for giving of their Mother's Day weekend to weed the existing rows, lay pipe for irrigation, and plant new lavenders.  It brings a renewed appreciation for the saying, "many hands make light work!"  With their help we were finished with a task in a matter of hours that would have taken our family of
six . . . days! There were several kiddos that headed back to the house before this picture was taken - they were real troopers removing weeds and leaves! Our oldest son had just left to grill the burgers and join my mom who helped prepare the food - you can't have this much help and not feed 'em!  And our seriously talented daughter was taking the pic - she's awesome!  You should check out her fabulous lifestyle and wedding photography at www.jessica-lauren.com

 

This is a picture of the newly planted lavender after one week of growth, looking happy and already blooming!  Shame on me, I'm supposed to to clip those blooms to encourage more energy to the

 roots of the plant . . . but sometimes I just want to see the beauty!

Here is an established lavender sending up blooms from the sleep of winter.
You can see that even this strong guy suffered some folliage loss; the folliage that's gray and dead!  Sniff, sniff! It's been a slow start with the cooler spring but I'm encouraged by the signs of life.  Unfortunately, we have sustained some loss, nearly six of our established rows suffered from the harsh winter.  However, in light of the loss we have four rows that are blooming beautifully with early flowering varieties of Royal Velvet, Melissa, and Folgate.  I'm so thankful those rows survived! With the loss of so many plants, it has caused us to pause and re-evaluate our lavender dreams and goals . . . more on those aspirations in a later post!

 

One of the four rows that are in bloom - a glorious reminder of God's goodness in nature!