by Jan Abernethy | 29 Apr 2020 | Uncategorised
Wow, what a world whirlwind we are weathering. Who could ever have imagined how each of our worlds have changed overnight. What’s the lockdown lowdown in Lavender Land – well …… New beginnings: Eight little chicks arrived when they weren’t meant to, well that was my...
by Jan Abernethy | 26 Feb 2020 | Uncategorised
Lavender picking in Carterton I’m always amazed where all the visitors come from for our lavender picking events. Year after year, men, women, kids and doggies flock in to see the lavender. They take family and friendship photos of each other as a keepsake, memory of...
by Jan Abernethy | 1 Aug 2019 | Uncategorised
Where have the past few months gone? They have been full of good stuff, bad stuff, shocking stuff and amazing stuff. Now back to lavender – March was full of interesting things happening at Lavender Abbey and abroad. I went away to the South Island and spent some...
by Jan Abernethy | 22 Jul 2019 | Uncategorised
There’s still plenty to do over winter at Lavender Abbey. We’ve had a mild winter so far, not too much rain, quite a few frosts and the grass is still growing, which is great for our pregnant ewes. Our lambing is over now, we didn’t breed too many ewes this year, only...
by Jan Abernethy | 24 Jun 2019 | Uncategorised
While the rain streams down the windows and makes puddles in the paddocks, the temperature is 10˚ outside with a morning frost of -3˚ and the cool breeze pierces my body. My body is not made for winter, it’s a summer body. I love feeling the warmth of the sun on my...
by Jan Abernethy | 4 Mar 2019 | Uncategorised
The weather was very up and down this summer season – rain, cold, then finally we received some welcome heat from the sun. The heat, with a bit of rain here and there, sped up the lavender quite quickly for the upcoming harvest. You could almost see the changes daily...
by Jan Abernethy | 23 Jan 2019 | Uncategorised
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...
by Jan Abernethy | 21 Dec 2018 | Uncategorised
I have many things to be grateful and hugely lucky for in my 2018 year of lavender. December 2017 – January 2018 Our pick your own lavender events started two weeks earlier than usual, so in Dec 2017, we opened the gates to over 700 people for that weekend. The next...
by Jan Abernethy | 15 Nov 2018 | Uncategorised
While in Provence, we came across this story of the fairy, Lavender. I had to share it with you: The fairy ‘Lavender’ A very beautiful fairy, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, called Lavandula, was probably born in the middle of the Montagne de Lure’s wild...
by Jan Abernethy | 29 Oct 2018 | Uncategorised
Lavender Abbeys’ 2018 harvest started early in a couple of ways. Firstly, we harvested three weeks early due to the amazing summer many areas of New Zealand had. Secondly, we were able to commence the harvest at 8am, as there was no dew. With the early start, we...
