Blog @ Purple Haze Lavender Ltd.

With the onset of Fall, it’s now time to start considering the pruning of our lavender plants…all 40,000 of them. Jose does all the pruning ,by hand, with a plain old weedeater…it’s like watching an artist at work, as he shapes and forms the plants. We try and leave only an inch or two of THIS YEARS green growth on the plant. This really contributes to the density of the plant next spring….We’ve found that if we prune down into the woody portion of the plant, that that’s what we’ll have next spring; a woody plant….Lavender just does not have the energy to push new growth through the wood…so…be careful when pruning and leave a little green…..Jose and Isidro will also be planting new small lavenders this week in the south field. The varieties Provence, Grosso, Melissa, and Royal Velvet will be going in the ground. We have found it really important when planting to add some of my organic mix to the hole or AT LEAST a handful of steamed bone meal to get the plant on it’s way.

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 the arrival of the rains so we will have to pick our days. It’s always tough to pull old, established plants out of the ground as one seems to get attached to them over time. This year we will be replacing several hundred Royal Velvets, many Grossos, and a couple hundred each of Melissa, Provence, and Dutch Mill…a daunting task but the crew, lead by Jose, is up to it….now…we just have to wait for the rain to stop….Luckily, two springs ago, we planted thousands of little plants in the south field and it has served as a nursery. We will dig these now larger plants and put them in place of the recently removed ones.

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 many years ago, we committed to constructing the biggest and most beautiful ones on the planet…it’s really paid off and now we sell everyone we have in a very short time…….on another front…Our farm manager, Jose, has his birthday today and it’s tradition at Purple Haze to throw a party for birthday folks…with Jose it’s more difficult as he doesn’t like all the attention…so….. the crew will go decorate his house as he toils in the field….there’s no escaping the wrath of PH’s “Birthday Revelers”….We also got him a gift card from Home Depot…love the guy……Me; I put about 70 pounds of fresh chinook salmon in the smokehouse today and will monitor it until late tonight when it should be finished…then the daunting task of vacuum packing it all….yummy stuff for the holiday season…….Word is still trickling in regarding my mexican home that was destroyed by hurricane John…..none of the news is good, however, and I’m accruing many items to take down for the locals; shoes, clothes, blankets, hospital supplies, etc…my truck will be full to the top….

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 assist in organizing a “wedding page” on our website. Over the years, we’ve had dozens of requests to allow weddings at the farm and have never been properly prepared. Now, with the construction of the new stage this past July and the inclusion of a fabulous sound system, we have the basis to enter into the organizational phase of offering weddings next summer. We will offer full catering services, tables, chairs, and the like. It’s an exciting development at Purple Haze and there is much work to do before the service is available starting next May. The romantic appeal of getting married on a lavender farm will now be a reality for many young lovers.

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 their needs. There was no water, electricity, gasoline, propane to cook with and very little food since last Friday. These people are so very strong though and just kind of laugh it off and go on. I think at this point the biggest need down there will be insect repellant and nets. The massive amounts of standing water will be the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos and with mosquitos come dengue fever and west nile virus, both of which have already shown up. So scary….Now…On the American front. Here at the farm, we’re getting ready to do some fall planting of several varieties. There has been for the past few years an increased demand for culinary varieties so we will be putting in more Melissa and Royal Velvet in the south field in the next few weeks. This has been such a dry summer that we are now having to irrigate to loosen the soil for tilling. Jose and his crew continue to weed the existing plants and I am starting to winterize the water system. Still no rain in sight.

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 and try to rebuild. The entire town in which I live down there was flattened and the residents are now digging out. There is still no water, electricity, food or gas. Recovery will take awhile.

Meanwhile, another Labor Day has passed and the farm is “officially” closed for the season. We will continue to staff it through this month, however, and visitors are still welcome. Jose will start winterizing the plants and water system soon. All the lavender needs to be pruned extensively in the off season to insure a vigorous, dense plant the following spring. Jose prunes all 40,000 lavender plants with a weedeater. One really should see him at work; he is truly an artist.

We are filtering this years lavender oil daily and will be shipping it all over the world soon. Staff is making formal dried lavender bundles daily and shipping it out also. It’s a VERY labor intensive job.

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 with buckets of rain and winds to 100mph. The little village of La Ribera, situated on the Sea of Cortez, is where i reside for most of the winter months. I chatted with a friend down there last night and she said they still had power but had lost water three days previous. I just hope my palapa is still standing. I’ve had this little place for about three years now and have planted my own little private jungle around it. It would be a shame if it was all wiped out with this storm…but….that’s mother nature.