Jazz, Tours, and Butterflies

On the last weekend of Lavender Daze (July 10-11), we’ve got a special treat for visitors! The John Kalleen Group will be playing on Sunday, July 11 from noon to 3 PM in the Pavilion. They are our favorite jazz band, with John Kalleen on trumpet and flugelhorn.

The Lavender U-Cut Experience is happening on both Saturday and Sunday, so grab a reservation through our Online Store and come on out to enjoy the lavender, the music, and more! There are still plenty of tickets available–$10 per car–so carpool with friends and head on out to the farm! The Grosso lavender in our 1-acre field is peaking, so it’s the best time for photos there.

After July 11, we won’t be having any public open-farm times until fall. If you want more time on the farm, consider becoming a member of the Friends of the Labyrinth, which gives you access to the farm every Wednesday and Thursday evening from 6-9 PM through October 15. You’ll share in the harvests from the vegetable garden and get other member benefits. Find out more here.

Coming up on July 24 and July 31 are our Learn About Lavender Tours. We’ll share our experience with growing lavender in clay soil, provide information about lavender propagation, and show you how we harvest and process our lavender into buds, oil, and hydrosol. We’ll also do an olfactory comparison of different lavender oils. Tickets available here.

As we head into the heart of summer, our latest garden project here at the farm is a butterfly garden. Many California butterfly populations are declining for a number of reasons—habitat loss and pesticide use are high up on the list. So we decided to create some habitat on our organic farm. And just for fun, we laid out the Butterfly Garden in the shape of a Monarch Butterfly.

Most butterflies have very specific needs for host plants to lay their eggs on. The Monarch butterfly relies solely on milkweed. The Anise Swallowtail lays its eggs on fennel plants. The Pipevine Swallowtail reproduces only on Dutchman’s Pipevine. We are working with the Hallberg Butterfly Gardens to select plants for our new garden space that will serve as host plants for many butterflies. The CalScape website has been invaluable too, as it provides information about which California native plants are hosts for specific butterflies.

The Butterfly Garden is a work in progress, with much left to be done. We hope to have it planted and irrigated within the next month or so. Check it out when you come to visit!