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| From August 1, 2011 |
Second question of the day. Where can you go when you need a lavender farm fix? I know, I know, not everybody will claim to need lavender farm fixes (but they should), however...since my sister-in-law and I traveled to Sequim, WA in 2003, I have been in love with lavender and lavender farms. A trip to Sequim was postponed so I found something slightly more local. Blue Willow Farm in Gig Harbor is about 15 acres and it's beautiful. One of the homes on the property was built in 1914 and has been turned into this picturesque little gift shop. We were greeted graciously by the owners, Bill and Tracy who took us on a tour. The website has the best pictures but here are a few of mine:
Here are the ropes of lavender bundles being dried in the barn. It takes 10-14 days to dry it.
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| From August 1, 2011 |
Bill showed the kids how to roll the dry bundles on a mesh screen to separate the flowers from their stems. The kids got to help.
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| From August 1, 2011 |
Then they got to help with the winnowing. You drop the lavender and blow so the lavender falls and the chaff blows away.
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| From August 1, 2011 |
Playing "checkers"
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| From August 1, 2011 |
Happy kids and happy me with all of the beautiful lavender.
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| From August 1, 2011 |
This was just one of the fields.
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| From August 1, 2011 |
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| From August 1, 2011 |
My souveniers were a bundle of dried lavender, a lavender soda and lavender shortbread cookies for the kids. Delightful!
Afterwards we ventured to the tot lot, one of the favorites of our former stomping grounds.
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| From August 1, 2011 |
The kids were happy to play with friends and run around until they were exhausted.
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| From August 1, 2011 |
I'm so happy to hear you got your lavender fix for the year :)
ReplyDeleteLavender cookies??? Who knew :)
ReplyDelete