Our area of Washington State has so much to do once spring starts. Spring is the beginning of a beautiful time of year for us, and it is the start of our festival season in the Northwest. Our town had it's Viking Festival this past weekend and the town was quite busy with folks coming in for the festivities.
The Viking Festival in our little Norwegian town is quite popular each year. People really get into the spirit. Here is a photo of a lady sitting outside at a local restaurant/pub wearing a viking helmet. It is common to see folks dressed in norwegian and viking dress for this event.
Once spring starts, you can stay very busy in the Northwest attending the many activities and festivals that each little town hosts. Each month, there is an event planned in one of the nearby towns. The festivals continue each month until late October or early November. I have some photos on my blog in a previous posting about the Tulip Festival that is held each year. That is a beautiful event to attend. Today, I would like to give you a sneak peek of just one of the upcoming events for this year... The Lavender Festival which is held each year in Sequim, Washington.
The Lavender festival is held each year in the little farming community of Sequim, Washington. This is a must see event for anyone visiting at the time of the festival or living in the area. The festival is held each year around the 15th and 16th of July and is quite popular. The Sequim area has several lavender farms, and each farm has their own schedule of classes and events that they offer while visiting their farm. You can even take a tour bus and visit every single farm, if you like, on the weekend of the festival. One of the farms my husband and I always visit is called the Purple Haze Lavender Farm. Today, I would like to give you a sneak peek of the festival and Purple Haze Lavender Farm. The photos I am posting are from a visit we made to the farm last July. I did not have the camera that I use now last year when we visited so please forgive the quality of some of the photos. You will get an idea, however, by this posting of the event that I will be attending in July. I am looking forward to posting some gorgeous photos after I attend the event this year. I will be bringing you with me in my heart, and cannot wait to show you the photos that I will take this year.
Upon arriving at one of the lavender farms, you begin to smell the wonderful aroma of lavender. It fills the air and immediately puts you in a zen place. We all know how relaxing the smell of lavender is. The Purple Haze farm has a band that plays at the farm each year on the weekend of the festival. They also offer food such as lavender ice cream, lavender spiced chicken, lavender lemonade or lavender margaritas. The food will vary but is always good. You are welcome to wander around the farm on your own and explore. Below is a photo of my husband and I taken in the picking area of the Purple Haze Lavender Farm last year. You can see the tents set up in the background where you can get a basket and clippers so that you can pick a lovely lavender bouquet to take home.
Last year, we took our friends, Sandy and Doug Gibson, with us to the festival. Below is a photo of Sandy and I in front of one of the lavender fields together. The weather was so pretty that day. I was excited to introduce Sandy to the festival, and we were looking forward to picking some beautiful lavender to take home with us.
The farms all have gifts shops where the farmers sell their products that they have learned to make with the lavender they harvest. Some of the things they sell include: soaps, lotions, cooking spices, photos and postcards of the lavender fields, cookbooks that the community has put together with recipes that include lavender, lavender oils and sachets, etc. They also have many potted lavender plants that you can purchase for planting in your garden. As you walk around the farm, they have markers showing the names of all the different varieties so you can see which ones you might want to buy. Some of the lavender is white and some are different shades of purple. Some lavender is edible and some is not. A few types of lavender are more fragrant than others. It all depends on what you are looking for as to what you buy, and there are knowledgeable people there that volunteer for the event to help you and answer any questions. Here is another shot of one of the fields with the Purple Haze Lavender Farm guesthouse in the background.
There are always a few poppies mixed in with the lavender fields which gives the fields a very patriotic red, white and blue look. Very beautiful and smells oh so good!
Now, I will tell you a quick story about how the lavender festival originated a few years ago. As mentioned, the Sequim area is a farming community. As you know, farmers sometimes struggle with the economy today. In an effort to help the community, the farmers searched for a crop to plant that might bring people into the area. Sequim has a very mild climate and gets more sunshine than some areas nearby. They do not have quite as much rainfall as the Seattle area. The climate in Sequim is very much like the climate in France. It was suggested that the farmers learn to grow lavender which grows wonderfully in France. The farmers had a town meeting and decided that they would all participate in the process of learning to grow lavender. They brought in someone that was an expert from Texas A & M college to teach the farmers and community about growing lavender. All the farmers in the area began to grow lavender along with their regular crops. They decided to start a Lavender Festival at the peak time of bloom in July and bring in people from other areas to visit their farms, sell some lavender and the products they had learned to make, and also hold a street festival in town during the weekend of the event. The event which has been held each year has been a big success! Not only do the farmers make money but also the community benefits because people visit the local shops and restaurants in town and also some stay in the nearby hotels and bed and breakfasts.
Here is a photo of Sandy and I in the lavender fields at Purple Haze.
Here is a closeup of one of the poppies in the fields. I cannot wait to make some closeups this year with my better camera. The festival is a great place to make family photos and brings a lot of photographers to Sequim for the event.
Speaking of photos or artwork, each year the event has a special poster that is created for the event featuring the work of a local artist or photographer. The poster is available for purchase online or at the festival and is suitable for framing. They also have buttons and magnets you can collect each year featuring the poster of the year for the festival.
In the next photo, you can see Sandy and I picking lavender and placing it in our baskets. Each year, I pick a beautiful bouquet to bring home and dry out. I place the bouquet in a vase, and it lasts for an entire year. I have one right now in my kitchen. I can still smell the aroma of the bouquet as I get close to it on the counter. At the festival, you pay $5.00 to pick a bouquet. They give you a basket, clippers and a large tie wrap. You can pick as many as you can fit a tie wrap around for $5.00. After you pick your bouquet, you take it back over to the tent and they will wrap it in pretty paper for you and tie a ribbon around it.
Me at the festival...
Sandy and I kneeling together in the picking field...
More poppies and lavender...
Sandy with her husband, Doug, at Purple Haze...
More of the lavender fields...
My loving husband sitting in one of the adirondack chairs....a purple chair, of course!
People always jokingly ask me if I saw Jimi Hendrix at the Purple Haze Lavender Festival and , yes, there is a big photo of him at the farm :)
After visiting the farms, we always go into town to enjoy some of the activities at the street fair. There are some wonderful artists that exhibit each year and usually buy something to take home from them. Last year, I bought a beautiful handmade silver bracelet. They have many vendors at the street fair, music, a wine/beer garden, and lots of food.
After visiting the farm, the street fair and a couple of shops that I love in the downtown area, it was time to leave. On the way to our car, we walked by a home that had a beautiful cherry tree in their yard and couldn't resist making a few photos of the tree and the cherries...
You might say we floated home because our car was filled with the lovely scent of lavender from the bouquets that Sandy and I had picked. We had such a great day, and I was anxious to plant my new lavender plants when we arrived home. Here is the back of our home...
I have some window boxes on the front and back of our home. I was looking forward to planting a lavender plant in the two boxes near my back door and around the back flower bed so that I could smell the lavender when I walked near the door....
I had purchased some fragrant lavender and also some edible lavender. I have a window box that is full of herbs near my back door and close to kitchen. Here you see that window box with herbs and the edible lavender planted in it... I did use it in my cooking. Each year, I replant my herbs for the spring and summer and will be adding lavender to the window box again this year after I attend the festival.
This is my kitchen window looking out to the back and my window box right under the window... I plant geraniums in that box and mix some lavender in with it. We do not have air-conditioning where we live---no one does as you don't really need it. Once we start keeping the windows open each year, you can smell the lavender coming into the home through the window. It is nice when I am standing at my kitchen sink which is right inside that window.
Here is my herb window box and a flower box...
Same two windows from a distance...
I hope you have enjoyed this little sneak peek of the Lavender Festival in Sequim, Washington. I also wanted to mention that author, Claire Cook, came to the lavender festival last year at the same time we were there to make photos and get inspiration for one of her books..The Wildwater Walking Club. I posted a couple of my photos of the festival on her facebook page, and she appreciated the additional photos. I am looking forward to reading her book.
I hope you enjoyed the peek at the Lavender Festival. If you have never been to the Sequim Lavender Festival, I hope you get an opportunity to attend this July. If you visit Sequim and the festival, don't forget your camera! I look forward to the festival this year and making lots of beautiful photos to share with you. For now, I am busy planting flowers for spring and summer in my yard...
Have a beautiful day!!!! xoxo Kim
For more information on the Lavender Festival, go to their site: Sequim Lavender Festival 2011
Kim,
Aaaahhh, the smell of lavender...so sweet. Looks like a fun day. I like the picture of you and your friend. My friend just came to visit me in Southern Cal. Old friends are the best.
~Sheri
Posted by: Sheri, Jess, and Nel | Monday, May 23, 2011 at 06:59 PM
What fun! Lovely photos and those window boxes are cute!
Posted by: Kirsty | Monday, May 23, 2011 at 07:32 PM
Hi Kirsty,
Thank you for visiting me today and for the nice comments. I am glad you like the window boxes. I really enjoy planting flowers in them each year. Have a beautiful day! xoxo Kim
Posted by: Bluebirdsandbutterflies | Monday, May 23, 2011 at 09:12 PM
Hi Sheri,
Thank you so much for visiting me today. I love the smell of lavender, too! It is a very therapeutic fragrance. I am glad you liked the photos of Sandy and I. We have known each other for many years. Our friendship goes back to when we were both living in Florida. She was living a few houses away from me in Washington State but now lives in Rescue, Washington. I am glad you got to spend time with a special friend recently. You will have to post some photos of your time together. I am enjoying your blog! Have a wonderful day. xoxo Kim
Posted by: Bluebirds and Butterflies | Monday, May 23, 2011 at 09:19 PM
Hi Kim, I can smell that Lavender from here. My cousin has a lavender farm here in New South Wales we have family reunions there and the smell is divine. I love your window boxes and your topiary just beautiful. Looks like you had a wonderful time. I just got back from Queensland after baby sitting my 3 grandsons for a few days they are just adorable, had a great time with them. Have a great day!!! Trish xox ;)
Posted by: Trish Rowley | Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 05:16 AM