If you’re a fan of lavender, I highly recommend the Lavender Festival in Cherry Valley. It’s not a U-Pick type of experience (which is something else on my list of funs to do!), but it’s an immersive lavender experience.
There’s shopping, music, hay rides, crafts, food…plus, it doesn’t get ridiculously crowded so you can enjoy in a relaxed setting. This year I went with my sister, niece, and nephews.
Food
First things first, there was so many lavender-inspired foods and beverages. It was warm out so we tried the lavender lemonade, iced tea, and ice cream. I wished we were hungrier because then we could have also tried the lavender cheesecake and beef brisket (yes, beef brisket!). Also, they have an afternoon tea and a sit-down farm to table dinner that I would have loved to be a part of. Next time!
The farm has an extensive line of lavender projects for sale. They also invited a few local makers to vend. You name it and they probably infused lavender into it – tea, lotions, honey, face masks, moist towelettes, salt, soap… and of course, you could also pick up some lavender plants.
I went on my first hay ride! It was crazy dusty, but I loved every minute. We traveled through the lavender fields via horse-drawn carriage and learned about the farm’s history and current practices. We even saw an ~1100-year-old oak tree.
Surprise, surprise, I didn’t take any of the craft workshops, but they all sounded fun – lavender crowns, bath salts, aromatherapy blends, and lip balm…. I did, however, make lavender-inspired felt flower crowns for us to wear and people kept asking where we bought them. 😉
It was fun to spend the afternoon with family. We played giant chess and enjoyed the sunshine. Towards the end of our visit my sister and I frolicked in the lavender fields. Plus, I went home with goat milk soap, yarn made with farm sheep wool and dyed with eucalyptus that grows on the farm, and a lavender clay mask. Also, we saw a llama.
