Lavender Days and Cherry Farms

Perhaps it is the romantic in me that wants to run wild and free, barefoot through a sea of scented flowers, but I've actually really wanted to go pick lavender for a while. Back in Oklahoma they had a few farms that I could have visited, but when I called the season had already finished. So to live out my dream I visited Young Living Farms.
This place is quite impressive. As you are driving down the highway all of a sudden there is a sea of VIBRANT purple. A good amount of acreage devoted to the raising and production of lavender and essential oils.

Apparently they have farms not just in Utah, but in Idaho, Ecuador, and France too.

So I pulled up to the quaint farm home/visitor center and asked the lady if I could go out to the fields and pick lavender. $15 later, I was given a pair of shears and a VERY large plastic sleeve to put my cuttings in.

There were a lot of bees. Once I figured out that the bees were more interested in the flowers than bugging me, I started looking for a good bunch. I hope that they are making honey, lavender honey...I mean...I would buy it.

It smelled so good! It oddly reminded me of this jasmine tea that I drank while I was in China, it is still one of my favorites.

I was the only one out in the field, which I found a bit strange, but relaxing as I tried to stuff as many cuttings into my sleeve as humanly possible.
I wanted to see the distillery but they said that they were too busy getting ready for their annual 5K event to do a tour just for one person. *shrugs* I guess I'll just have to come back. I do love lavender.

So instead I bought some lavender lemonade, walked around and drew the farm. Let me just say this about the lemonade. It was okay. To be honest I think they just used Country Time powder and then let lavender soak in it and even then not for very long, it wasn't even pink. Les Madeleines makes a much better version if you ask me. I actually have made lavender lemonade before and it was delicious! Hopefully I'll make another batch with these cuttings and post it sometime.

As I was driving home I noticed that there was a cherry farm off the side of the highway. I pulled a U and went to investigate. Unfortunately my investigations were literally, fruitless. Har Har. They didn't allow for people to go out and pick cherries on their own. Though they did offer a mean, fresh raspberry shake.

Why they don't let people go out and pick is beyond me. The girl said liability, which I can somewhat understand, but still...I just wanted some cherries! Not to swing from the trees and break my neck. So what did I do? Luckily the trees were not fenced off and were 10 steps away from my car. I went and sampled a few as I walked through the rows of trees.

These are not your regular eating cherries that you can get at the store. These are pie cherries. They have smaller pits and size , are slightly tarter, and more mushy than usual. I loved them! :)

Happy Farming!