The staff continues to cut lavender and hang it in the many barns that we rent. All of the varieties are now in full bloom and the crowds keep coming. Yesterday was the biggest “non festival” Saturday we’ve had here and we expect today will bring em in also. There’s a big dog show going on in town so we’re seeing lots of “exotic” type dogs being led around by their owners..fun stuff!
Yesterday, Jim Poth and “Easy Goin Tours” visited us with about 40 folks from the NW corner of Washington State. We introduced them to Purple Haze and fed them a lavender lunch before sending them on their way. Jim has been bringing his groups here for many, many years and they always seem to have a wonderful time. Keep on truckin’ Jim…
Without even a small break from long days working the festival this past weekend, the Purple Haze gang started harvesting lavender early monday morning and will now continue cutting and drying throughout the month. We’re so lucky to have such a dedicated, hard working crew here at the farm. They never complain and just keep on truckin’.
Well, judging from the crowds, this Lavender Festival is bigger and better than ever; super music, great food, incredible artisan vendors, and tons of happy people. Cars were stacked up clear down the road last night still at 4pm and the music was still rocking. Six bands in all played at the farm yesterday and they were all just unbelievable! “Final Approach” started their set at 10am and we finished up with “Copernicus Twist” at 7pm or so. The crowds were huge this year and we can only anticipate that it will continue today. Cisco Morris aired his weekly tv show yesterday morning on KING 5 that he filmed here at Purple Haze last week. We’ve got a feeling that this exposure will increase the crowds to the farm today, the last day of the annual festival. We start harvesting in earnest this next week and will continue to stay open to the public everyday throughout the summer. Bring em on!
The lavender festival is about to begin! Last night all the vendors showed up and are now established around the farm. The stage is ready for all the musicians and our staff is ready for the thousands of people that will show up shortly. The weather is supposed to be perfect for this event and everyone is really excited!
The Purple Haze crew started harvesting yesterday, FINALLY! This cold, wet spring has delayed our harvest by at least two weeks but now the lavender is coming on like gangbusters! We started with the variety Melissa yesterday and will continue today and tomorrow or until we get it all hanging in the drying sheds. Melissa is one of our culinary varieties that we use in our famous Purple Haze salad dressing.
One of our favorite local musical groups will be playing at our farm this weekend for the Lavender Festival. Fast Eddie and the Slow Learners play rock n roll classics and truly do “rock” the people. We look forward every year to their performance as they bring an exciting, memorable lift to our music venue.
Yesterday a garden touring group from the Northeast corner of Tennessee visited with Beeline Tours. They were a gracious group of folks and fun to talk with. The weather was gorgeous and it appeared that all enjoyed their time here.
An annual group that stops by the farm each summer for many years now is a womens bicycle group called Changing Gears. They’re a great group and they typically take a nice long ride early in the day, enjoy a delicious lunch on the south lawn, then, with the assistance of one of our staff people, attend an herbal vinegar class here at the farm. All agree it’s a fun day all around.
The fields are right on schedule! These past few hot days have caught the lavender plants up to almost where they should be this time of year and the fields are spectacular now. We’ve seen thousands of visitors this past weekend and today is starting out much the same. With the annual Lavender Festival now just a few days away staff is rushing to have everything just perfect….and it is!