Lavender day

We had a fantastic day today and discovered an amazing place to visit (provided they have an open day). As recommended by one of our fellow allotmenteers we travelled down to the sleepy Sussex village of Lordington and attended one of Lordington Lavender's open days.
What an amazing place......the Lavender in this field was planted back in 2002 as part of a diversification programme. The field was initially hidden away, we parked our car by the farm buildings and walked down a little track and through a glade of trees, and as we turned a corner this immense field of purple opened up in front of us. It was a truly awesome sight!
Visitors could walk up and down the rows of lavender, take in the gorgeous calming scent and listen to the gentle hum of the bees as they buzzed around the crop. The owners had also set up a little tea and coffee area aided by a Chichester ladies charity group who had also made a selection of Lavender biscuits and cakes. All the proceeds from these sales went to charity.

Inspired by the awe and wonder of the crop, Mr B bought 5 little lavender plants to plant on the allotment so that next year we'll be able to harvest our own lavender for cakes and biscuits. I bought some lavender essential oil that can be used for cooking, I'm going to be experimenting with making Lavender ice cream!