For Fathers Day and my birthday* we took a drive out to the Cache Creek Lavender Farm in Rumsey California. You go past the Cache Creek Casino, drive through a few towns with populations of 1500 or less, and if you blink, you might just miss the lavender farm. Not a lot out that way, but it certainly was a nice drive.
I expected acres and acres with lavender growing, but it's actually a small place. They let you cut your own lavender which is pretty cool. Just be careful if you're allergic to bees as they're all over the place. It's nice to just walk through the plants, smelling that wonderful lavender and listening to the bees buzzing around.
There was a nice woman in charge that day who answered all our questions about lavender, how to grow it, etc. There is also a nice little store where you can pick up lavender products such as soap, lavender oils and dried lavender.
But what caught my eye and something I just had to take home with me, were the bottles of Culinary Lavender they were selling. $6 for .6 ounces. In cute little bottles I can use for something else once I've used up all the lavender. I've come across many recipes over the years calling for lavender but I've never really paid much attention if it was for sale anywhere before. I gladly picked up a couple of bottles and made a mental note to bookmark any recipes I could find that called for the lavender. There are also recipes on the Cache Creek Lavender Farm website (cookies, cakes, teas, ice creams).
*Yes, my birthday was back in May, but it was the earliest I could celebrate with my Dad's side of the family.
The lavender is simply gorgeous!
Posted by: Livin Local | June 30, 2010 at 06:27 AM
The farm sounds lovely. What an experience that must have been.
I love the smell of lavender. I bought some lavender to make cookies recently, but I haven't gotten around to baking them yet. The lemonade and jelly sound like a great idea.
Posted by: Cassaendra | June 30, 2010 at 08:22 AM
Livin Local - Hard to get the colors to pop like they did at the farm.
Cassaendra - I made lavender brownies which I hope to get up in the next day or two.
Posted by: Mrs. L | June 30, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Happy belated birthday! And what a grand way to celebrate it. I LOVE the fragrance of lavender. Whenever I sniff it, I feel like I'm at a spa. It never ceases to make me feel sooo relaxed. Better than Calgon. ;)
Posted by: Carolyn Jung | July 07, 2010 at 04:46 PM