Fall is really here! The lovely cool weather is a pleasant change from the 90s and 100s. There are two bits of news I wanted to share today.
Lavender Harvest
We have completed our first big lavender harvest! We had some amazing help to make it all happen, with 20 people involved in the harvest—cutting and bundling lavender, making the ropes to hang the lavender, and running to the Leisen’s farm to hang the lavender bundles to dry.
With 5,000 bundles of lavender, we wanted a solution to the usually tedious and time-consuming process of hand-debudding each bundle. Fortunately, someone else has thought about this problem, and his name is Ricardo Besel, originally from Argentina. Ricardo has developed a machine that debuds the lavender, removes the stems and the dust, and produces very clean lavender buds for use in sachets, eye pillows and for culinary uses. We now have one of these labor- and time-saving machines, personally delivered by Ricardo and his delightful wife Cecilia. We produced a video to give you a peek inside the lavender harvest and processing. Check it out! And think of us for any of your lavender needs!
Fall Farm Trails Weekend
We’re excited to join in on the fun for the upcoming Weekend Along the Farm Trails Fall Tour, held Oct. 12 & 13, at dozens of locations all around Sonoma County! We’ll be having a several special activities for the tour, and you won’t want to miss what our fellow farmers, ranchers, and producers are doing to celebrate this harvest season. Registration is free and easy; but you’ll need to do so in order to receive the insiders’ guide and interactive map to the tour. For tour details and registration link, visit www.farmtrails.org.
Here at Bees N Blooms, we’ll be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days of the weekend and will have a selection of Sonoma County honeys, pumpkins, and lots of lavender products at the farm stand. We’ll also be doing three tours each day. They are free, but are limited to 15 people for each tour. You can reserve a spot using the EventBrite links below.
- The Bees of Bees N Blooms: 11:00 AM – 11: 45 AM. Learn about honey bees, native bees, and planting for pollinators.
- Regenerative Organic Agriculture: 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM. Regenerative agriculture builds soil, sequesters carbon, and works to restore ecosystems.
- The Lavender Tour: 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM. Get some tips on growing, harvesting, and processing lavender and get a demo of our new lavender debudding machine.
