This weekend marked the 2016 Southern Oregon Lavender Festival. I've been wanting to attend this festival for a few years, and this year I found a wonderful new friend to accompany me on this adventure! She and I took our daughters and off we went to the Applegate Valley for a day of sunshine, laughter, picnics and of course Lavender!
The Lavender Trail features 4 farms in the Applegate Valley and a 5th destination in the Rogue Valley. The 5th location is the Southern Oregon Research & Extension Center (SOREC). The Lavender Garden at SOREC was planned, planted and is maintained by the Jackson County OSU Master Gardeners (an organization I am proud to belong to). My friend & I didn't stop here today, since I'm very familiar with this garden and was eager to get into the Applegate, but I recommend a stop if you're in the area and have never been. The demonstration gardens are numerous!
Back to the Trail...
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| Our Lavender Wand |
Our first stop - Lavender Fields Forever
We probably spent the most time at this farm, since it was our first stop. They had several classes available (how to make a lavender wand, a lavender wreath, cooking with lavender and more). There were plenty of lavender products to buy (creams, room spray, essential oils, etc.). There were also jewelry & craft vendors selling in the barn, and so much more! We sampled some lavender lemonade, a lavender cookie and tried our hand at making a lavender wand.
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Gathering Lavender to Make a Wand Next Stop - English Lavender Farm On this farm we sampled more lavender infused lemonade, but this one was infused with strawberries too - YUM! There were plenty of items to purchase. I picked out a lavender eye mask, and a sachet. Little did we know the local news station, channel 12, was filming a segment about the festival. At the end of the day, while we were home relaxing we discovered the girls were captured on film running through the lavender fields! 
Then we stopped for pizza at a local spot called Peace of Pizza. The name is cute, the garden patio behind the restaurant was gorgeous & lush, and the pizza was awesome - wood fired and all. We took our pizza to go and ate it picnic-style at the third lavender farm of the day: Applegate Valley Lavender Farm...
This farm was truly a working farm. We ate our pizza in the shade accompanied by all the farm critters, geese, sheep, an old dog, and cows. Afterward we sampled ice cream from the Sweet Cream mobile truck. My favorite was the Lavender Lemon Zest ice cream, the kids both enjoyed the Honeycomb ice cream. The girls marveled at all the tadpoles & dragonflies in the pond, and pet a few sheep.
This lavender farm had many greenhouses and sold several varieties of lavender from 4inch pots to 1 gallon. Here I picked up a sweet little handcrafted piece of pottery from a local artisan. It was the perfect way to end the day and spend the last of my cash on hand!
My loot - yes, I bought some lavender room spray!
I truly enjoy supporting local farmers, businesses, and artisans. If you're seeking a little adventure, beautiful countryside scenery and the enjoyment of being around friendly people, well the Southern Oregon Lavender Trail is just for you. I'm looking forward to attending again next year.
Bonus: my car smells like lavender!!
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Oh my goodness, that all sounds like a perfect day out! Can I book my spot for next year's trip? :)
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