Pork Chops with Roasted Apples, Lavender and Juniper Berries Print Prep time 30 mins Cook time 30 mins Total time 1 hour Using juniper berries as a spice is so much fun during winter months! Harvest them fresh from juniper trees, or find them dried at natural food stores. Piney, citrusy juniper berries…
Now that the leaves have fallen from the trees, the air is quiet and the cold is setting in, I’m beginning to reflect on the last growing season. Winter is a natural time for reflection, especially for a farmer. Just like the plants we tend to all spring, summer and fall, we people get to go…
Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Lavender and Sage Print The flavors in this sweet potato dish are warm and inviting. Luscious citrus butter, soft cream cheese, sweet dates, fresh, savory sage and toasted pecans surround and compliment the deliciousness of sweet potato in every bite. Author: Inspired by Taste of Home Ingredients 6 medium sweet…
When it comes to gift-giving, nothing beats a gift from the heart. Especially if it smells like lavender. Do you just love the calming, soothing, floral scent of lavender? We do, too! Share that love of lavender with the people in your life with these 3 DIY gifts. These DIY lavender crafts are inspired by…
Apple and Browned Butter Tart with Lavender Crust Print Author: Inspired by Better Homes & Gardens Ingredients 1½ cups all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons sugar ½ teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon lavender ¾ cup earth balance 1½ tablespoons cold water ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons butter ½ cup sugar 5 Honeycrisp apples, cored and cut…
The more we distill lavender hydrosol, the more we realize how wonderful it is. Over the years, essential oils and their many uses have become more well known. Hydrosol, however, also known as floral water or distillate, is still making its debut in the public eye. Back in the early days of distillation, hydrosol –…
The air’s getting cooler and soils are still warm. Autumn offers us an array of reasons to get back to the garden for one final planting. There are both pros and cons to planting lavender and other perennials in the fall, rather than in the spring. Deciding which season to plant depends on factors like…
On our high desert organic farm, we’re growing nearly 5 acres of lavender, and 50% of the lavender we grow is Lavandula x. intermedia. In other words, we grow lots of Lavandin. As a late-season species, this is the last of the lavender we harvest in the summer. We harvest ‘True Grosso’, ‘Super’, ‘Impress Purple’…
Basil is a classic tender herb loved by many. For gardeners, growing basil is a delight – Picking fresh basil just before adding it to a dish is such a treat. With a few tricks, growing basil is easy, even in our high desert heat. And it is possible to keep basil producing in abundance…
The 8th annual Colorado Lavender Festival is just around the corner! Every June, amidst cherry harvest and lavender harvest, we gear up for a weekend that is packed full of lavender. This year, we’re focusing on hydrosol as our theme for the festival. Hydrosol is a product of the distillation process. It’s the floral water…
Roasted Golden Beet Salad with Pea Shoots and Fennel Print Ingredients 2 pounds baby beets, scrubbed, tops and root ends trimmed ¼ cup olive oil, divided Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 tsp crushed lavender buds Pea shoots (tendrils), fennel fronds, and…
Before I was growing lavender, I was growing tomatoes with a passion. It’s a skill I learned back in California when I was working on organic farms. Through the years, I’ve learned a few tricks that make a big difference. Planting, pruning, trellising and other techniques go a long way when it comes to growing…
Community-supported agriculture. You may be more familiar with its acronym, CSA. As farm-to-table ideas and experiences enter the mainstream, CSA programs are also becoming more familiar and more popular. Whether its quality of taste, personal connection, ethics or nutrition that’s guiding people towards CSAs, it seems that everyone – both farmer and consumer – is…
Last weekend, I had the honor of attending Great Lakes Lavender Growers’ 3rd Annual Conference as keynote speaker. The conference Diversify Today; Transform Tomorrow was sponsored by Michigan State University and organized by a passionate, excited, friendly and gracious group of lavender growers. The topic of diversification in agriculture made space for great conversations about crop diversity,…
As farmers dedicated to quality and sustainability, we’re always trying new things. Testing out different varieties of lavender in our high desert climate, adding to our abundant selection of heirloom tomatoes, arranging and rearranging our organic plant starts to fit as many plants as possible! – Farming, like gardening, is all about playing with new…
Living in seasons is a beautiful thing. We get to participate in the flow of nature, welcoming the seasons as they come, and saying goodbye as they go. Changes in weather and in the scenic views that surround us influence our day-to-day lives, changing what we eat, wear and do. In harmony with the seasons,…
Caramelized Butternut Squash with Lavender Print Tender butternut squash melts in your mouth, its caramelized outside adding rich texture. Lavender brings out deeper flavors in this cozy winter dish. Author: Inspired by Barefoot Contessa Ingredients 2 medium butternut squash (4 to 5 pounds total) 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted ¼ cup light brown sugar,…
We are at the end of our journey in Peru. I had the wonderful opportunity to bring my family to Peru and visit the first and only lavender farm in Peru. I was invited by the gracious owner of Sacred Lavender Farm, Jana Hartinger to visit and consult on her farm. Jana is a true…
Every fall, we propagate thousands of organic lavender plants from cuttings. Learning how to propagate is a fun and important skill for a lavender grower to learn, so we wanted to share our process with you. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to propagate lavender from cuttings. Step One: Begin with a healthy plant…
This time of year, it’s fun to wander through the garden and observe how plants transform with the arrival of cold weather. Evergreens seem more brilliant and rich beside dormant perennials and annuals that have gone to seed. Some flowers become amazing seed pods! It’s fun to take walks, fallen leaves covering the ground, and…
Caramelized Almonds with Lavender Print These sweet and savory almonds are great served alone or on a cheese plate. Add to your favorite salad, or package for a “hostess/host” gift to give during the holiday season. Author: Robin Dery Ingredients 3 Tbl. Sugar 2 teas. Fennel seed 1 teas. Lavender buds 1 teas. salt ½t to…
Filling our gardens with herbs in spring and summer is a gift that keeps on giving. We get to harvest fresh culinary herbs for our favorite dishes and sip homegrown herbal teas. As temperatures cool, it’s hard to think of parting with such a satisfying ritual, but you may have experienced, as we have, that…
From stress and fatigue to scrapes and scratches, lavender essential oil is a go-to tool for so many occasions. Nothing accentuates the power of nature quite like essential oil. Essential oils are the super-potent version of a plant. They have the same characteristics of the plant they’re derived from, in a concentrated form. Click here…
Sage, noun: an herb, Salvia officinalis, whose grayish-green leaves are used in medicine and in cooking. Sage, adjective: wise, judicious, or prudent. When it comes to creating something beautiful, like a handmade wreath or a carefully distilled essential oil, our ingredients matter. A beautiful creation comes from beautiful inputs: properly dried flowers that retain their vibrant colors; lavender buds harvested at the height of…
Christine’s Cucumber Salad with Lavender Print Ingredients 2 large cucumbers or 3-4 small cucumbers 2 T olive oil 1 T apple cider vinegar 1-2 cloves chopped garlic 1½ tsp. fresh dill ⅛ tsp. crushed lavender salt and pepper to taste Directions Thinly slice cucumbers and mix all ingredients together. Eat fresh or cover and…
As you know from our last blog post, lavender harvest is a special occasion. It comes once a year, and though it’s somewhat of a frantic time for us here at the farm, it’s certainly an occasion worth celebrating. So much goodness comes out of harvesting lavender. Enjoying beautiful sunrises, taking in sweet and uplifting…
Like many harvests, lavender harvest is a timely event. Not only does it revolve around the rhythm of lavender blooms, but it also depends on daylight, temperature and rain. Lavender harvest is a special time of year at the farm in that, as the weather starts to heat up, the pace picks up, too. There’s a buzz, and it’s…
No matter how small or temporary your space may be, incorporating a garden is easy and rewarding. You may be surprised by all that you can grow in pots on a small patio. This week, we planted out our “Patio Gardener” organic plant CSA selection. The “Patio Gardener” consists of 2 tomatoes, 1 pepper, 4 herbs,…
Spring is a special time on the farm. The bees are waking up and buzzing around. The birds are singing. The chickens love all the new weeds and bugs, and the fruit trees look beautiful bearing blossoms – all while we humans are busy starting seeds, transplanting plants, and preparing rows for tomatoes and peppers. It all…
We want to make it as easy and sustainable as possible for gardeners at every experience-level to grow their own food. That’s why, this year, we’re offering something completely new: an Organic Plant CSA program. Garden along with the season with strong organic plant starts and seeds hand-selected to thrive in our high desert climate. Sounds…
