Welcome to 2019, the year of the Pig – A year of Fortune and Luck! That’s something to look forward too. Stu was born in the year of the Pig, so he is a Boar and I am an Ox.

What has happened so far this month at our lavender farm?

We have finished our 8th year of ‘Pick your own Lavender’ and once again, we have had amazing support from all our lavender lovers and visitors.

There were many visitors that visit annually, new lavender visitors that have moved to the Wairarapa, so many Wellington supporters again, local support, many large groups, families and a few doggies. I am always amazed where all these people come from. We appreciate your support and hope you love coming to the farm for the lavender experience.

It was lovely to meet one of our customers, who bought her 92-year-old mother visiting from Fiji, to see the lavender.

A little boy got a bee sting; our helper put some antihistamine cream on it and he was so grateful, came rushing back after he had just left, to personally thank her for helping the sting go away. He was very brave.

It was great to see some photos added to our Instagram page #lavenderabbeynz.

We harvested our angustifolia ‘Violet Intrigue’ this month; it is quite physical because of the way the VI grows, unevenly. We use the harvester and push up the rows, then take the front of the harvester off the sulky and carry it while cutting up and down the rows to get the flowers from the sides, quite exhausting! It did not go without a little drama – a bee stung me again, however there was no “severe” reaction, as previously, so that was a relief.

Three hours later, all harvested and on the road to the distillers. We were home at 7pm after starting at 8am that morning. The Violet Intrigue does not yield as much as Grosso but it is an amazing scent and it did win ‘The Best angustifolia in NZ’ in 2018, so I adore it. It’s worth the hard work.

Currently we are up to our 30th market this season, only another seven to go to the end of March. We then hibernate for the autumn and winter, we spring out again in September all energised and excited again for the coming season.

A big thank you to all our helpers this year, we appreciate your help.

Come back again next month to hear about our Grosso harvest.

Happy January Lavender Lovers x