Author: hitchinlavenderblog

Hello Hitchin Lavender fans!

This is the last week of our Lavender Digests as this is the last week of Hitchin Lavender being open. Our last day is 3rd September. 

Thank you all so much for coming to our farm and enjoying the lavender with us. Thanks as well to all of you who have been keeping me company on this blog. We will be carrying on during our off-season, keeping you abreast of upcoming events and a few about what we get up to over the winter.

This post is for all of you who may be thinking about coming before we close. If you know anyone who is thinking of coming, make sure you link this to them, so that they can be aware of how everything is looking..

Events 

Swing Night 

We were wondering how best to sell them to you. We know that they’re great, they always sell out when they are here, but for those of you who have never come across them, have little look at them on YouTube:

Nearly half the tickets have already sold already, so book soon using the following link:

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/EMJKDI

Workshops

31st August – Toddler Tales (10.00-11.30 am)

https://billetto.co.uk/e/toddler-tales-move-tickets-207301

2nd September – Morning Meditation with John Harrigan (9.00-10.00 am)

https://billetto.co.uk/users/foolishpeople

Our Last Week (31/8/17 – 3/9/17) 

How will the lavender be looking? 

We are now out of season for our flowers right now. The field looks quite grey and we have begun our harvesting process.

As I mentioned last week, if you are thinking of coming and are expecting to have beautiful purple fields, then you may be disappointed, especially if you are coming from any distance at all. Please consider coming next season to avoid disappointment. 

If you do know anyone who is thinking of coming this week, with the hopes of catching a purple field, please refer them to this blog. 

And the sunflowers? 

Again, the sunflowers have been and gone.

For next season, for both the lavender and the sunflowers, please make sure to stay updated with Hitchin Lavender Blog.

Thanks so much for reading, we will be posting again in the next few weeks with more updates on the field.

Will

Hello Hitchin Lavender fans!

Welcome to the second to last week of our opening season.

Without any ado, let’s get on with the digest!

Next week (24/8/17-30/8/17) 

How will the lavender be looking? 

We are out of season in terms of the flowering period for the lavender. The main field looks at its purple best from mid July to mid August, so it really has gone past its best right now and for the next week.

With that in mind, we have been suggesting that anyone thinking of coming for the bank holiday weekend – particularly if you are coming from any great distance at all – then we suggest considering coming for next season.

If you are local and wanting to pick a bunch of lavender to be dried, then there is still a lot there for the taking.

And the sunflowers? 

They have been and gone, I’m afraid. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled on here next season to catch the lavender at its brilliant best!

Swing Night 

Tickets are still available for our end of season bonanza! This West End Rat Pack tribute act are not to be missed. Playing all the old favourites, make sure to book soon, as the tickets always sell out!

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/393454

Workshops 

24th August – Toddler Tales (10.00-11.30 am)

https://billetto.co.uk/e/toddler-tales-move-tickets-207301

26th August – Morning Meditation with John Harrigan (9.00-10.00 am)

https://billetto.co.uk/users/foolishpeople

30th August – Ickledrama for Toddlers (10.30-11.30 am)

https://www.ickledrama.co.uk/

That’s all for this week.

Make sure to come back next week for our final lavender digest of the year!

Thanks for reading.

Will

Hello lavender fans!

Welcome to the 8th week of our weekly newsletter, The Lavender Digest.

This week sees Sundown Cinema coming to the farm! We’ve already had two showings – The Matrix and Life of Brian – with another 4 to go!

If you have any questions about the showings, (ticket sales, policies, etc.) please go directly to www.sundowncinema.co.uk  who will be able to assist you!

Next Week… (17/8/17 – 23/8/17)

How will the lavender be looking? 

We are coming right to the very end of our natural flowering season and, though there is some purple in the field, it is not looking nearly as good as it has done previously this season.

With that in mind, we recommend that, if you are coming from a distance, that you consider postponing your visit until next season.

If you are local, or were wanting to come and pick the lavender, then come within the next week, to catch the last of the lavender.

And the sunflowers? 

Unfortunately the sunflowers have been and gone. As I mentioned last week, they flowered early and the horrible weather at the beginning of the month really wiped them out.

What’s on? 

Swing Night 

We are proud to announce that The Definitive Rat Pack are coming back to the farm! Playing all the old favourites, this renowned West End tribute act, will get you grooving!

For more information and to book, go to https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/393454

Workshops

19th August – Morning Meditation with John Harrigan (9.00-10.00 am)

https://billetto.co.uk/users/foolishpeople

22nd August – Easy Printmaking Workshop with Something Wonderful Design (10.00-12.30)

https://www.facebook.com/somethingwonderfuldesign/

23rd August – Ickledrama for Toddlers (10.30-11.30 am)

https://www.ickledrama.co.uk/

That’s all for this week.

See you next Thursday!

Will

Hello Lavender Fans!

Presenting the last round of entries from our recent photo competition! Thank you all so much for entering, I think you can agree that we have some really stunning entrants here.

Keep your eyes peeled on here… It has been so much fun doing this, that we may run another competition, so we can see all the enjoyment you guys have been having at the farm.

Enjoy!

Yasantha Meegodage – 5th August 2017

Victoria Proddow – 22nd July 2017

Vickie Kirkwood – “After morning meditation” 29th July 2017

Veronica James – Summer 2016

Thais Lima – 30th July 2017

Stuart Nice “Holding on to Summer” – Summer 2017

Rachael Gavan – 7th July 2017

Sarah Tibbles – 9th July 2017

Nicola Leigh “Smiling Sunflower” – 1st August 2017

Molly Rackham “After Sharon Cooper Workshop” – 31st July 2017

Max Guiney “My wife and child at Hitchin Lavender” – 31st July 2017

Lukasz – July 2017

Lorayne Haisman – 22nd July 2017

Leanne Ford “One in a million (Taken during Sharon Cooper’s Workshop)” – 23rd July 2017

Jon Russell “Butterfly in lavender” – 25th June 2017

Joanne Short – August 2017

Jessica Buck – 1st August 2017

J E Borcherds “Stevenage Cycling UK Women’s Festival of Cycling Lavender Farm ride” – 9th July 2017

Hannah Williams – Summer 2017

Emily Smythe – Summer 2017

Donny Lee – 9th July 2017

Clare Bowers “Running free with the bees” – Summer 2017

Carole van der Watt “Running through the fields” – 31st July 2017

Beverley Butler – 30th July 2017

Amy Vann – Summer 2016

Hello Lavender Fans!

Welcome to the 7^th week of our Lavender Digest.

We have had such a wet week! Apart from Sunday, which saw record numbers, a lot of the past seven days has been nothing but rain.

With that in mind, if you were still hoping to come down to our farm, please expect it to be very muddy, so bring appropriate footwear and be prepared for muddy conditions when parking and walking around.

I have had a lot of fun looking through everyone’s pictures for our low-key competition, so thank you everyone for entering! We may well run it again, so if you wanted to join please see the link for more info!

We had so many entries that we are having to do two posts. So join us again next Monday for another showing of our visitor’s shots!

On with the digest!

Next week… (10/8/2017 – 16/8/2017)

How will the Lavender be looking? 

We still have lavender for you to come and have a look at, but we are coming to the end of our season. Some of our later blooming lavenders are coming into their own, but if you were wanting to come for the main body of the field, come within the next week to avoid disappointment!

Sunflowers? 

We are sorry to say that the sunflowers have really gone past their best, I’m afraid. They came a few weeks back, earlier than anticipated, and have gone past their two week bloom window.

Everything has just happened earlier this year and the rain we’ve had over the weeks has really meant that the flowers have suffered.

How busy will it be?

As mentioned before, Sunday was possibly our busiest day of the year. We are definitely expecting to be busy.

Please, bring appropriate footwear and be prepared for muddy car parks and queuing.

What’s on? 

Swing Night 

We are proud to announce that The Definitive Rat Pack are coming back to the farm! Playing all the old favourites, this renowned West End tribute act, will get you grooving!

For more information and to book, go to https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/393454

Workshops 

12th August – Morning Meditation with John Harrigan (9.00-10.00 am)

15th August – Knitting on the Farm with Susie Davies (19.00-21.00)

For more information go to http://www.hitchinlavender.co.uk/news.aspx.

That’s all for this week, come back on Monday for more from our photo competition!

See you next week!

Will

Hello Lavender Fans!

It has been my absolute privilege looking through all the different shots of the field. We had so many through, that we’ve had to do it in 2 posts!

Hope you all enjoy!

Sam McLean “11 month old Aria’s first trip to Hitchin Lavender” – 30th July 2017

Tracy Reeve “My Cheeky Little Girl” – 23rd July 2017

John Paine

Karen Evans “Late Night” – 14th July 2017

AJ Burrows – July 2017

Moira Goodger – 27th July 2017

Hilary Bourne – July 2017

Letty Huckerby “Sunset Shining Through. Gives the lavender a whole new light” – 25th July 2017

Jacqui “Taken by my son” – 29th July 2017

Shelly Johnson “Shelly and Ian Johnson amongst the Lavender!” – 6th August 2017

Suresh – 31st July 2017

Ylenia & Sam – July 2016

Lynne Saunders – 29th July 2017

Lou Christie ” A tranquil and inspiring few hours spent there. The random chair in the field was great for the photos!” – 28th July 2017

Emily Broomhead “And…one person adds a little bit of scale” – 21st July 2017

Jessica Holt-Smith – July 2017

Annie Jaques “Sunshine and sunflowers and the smell of lavender wafting through the air….a perfect day” – 1st August 2017

Gemma Dilley “Favourite Pics from our Visit” – 25th August 2016

Nicky Van Gremberghe “My Daughter Allegra” – 2nd August 2017

Carley Carter – 1st August 2017

Debbie Balser “Lovely morning celebrating Nanny’s birthday” – 28th July 2017

Claire Kenna “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” – 20th June 2017

Vicky Weathersbee “A Lavender and Bee Fanatic” – 2nd August 2017

Phil Smith – Summer 2017

Veronica James – “Lainey at 3 Years Old with Daddy” – 2016

Thank you all so much for taking part. Anyone who sent in a shot to our email address before 7/8/17 will definitely have one of their shots included, either this week or next Monday – so don’t worry if you didn’t see yours.

If you didn’t take part watch this space! We may do this at least one more time before the season is over!

Have a great week!

Will

Hello Lavender Fans!

Welcome to the 6^th week of our Lavender Digest.

Where has our summer gone!

We have had an awful lot of rain again this week, so please be aware that we are very muddy in places, especially in the car parks and some areas of the field. If you need any extra assistance getting around this weekend please let us know and we’ll do what we can to help!

To all of you who have sent over pictures to be featured on our blog we will be displaying them all next Tuesday. Our deadline is midnight on Monday night.

Thanks to all of you have already done so, those who haven’t, or don’t know what I’m talking about, see this post for details!

Next week… (3/8/2017 – 9/8/2017)

How will the Lavender be looking? 

We are still going strong. With the bad weather, some of the lavender is starting to turn, but we do have an area of lavender yet to come into full bloom! Keep your eyes peeled for that.

Sunflowers? 

Yes! They are looking absolutely fab right now and this may be the last week that they look so good! Come soon to pick 50p a stem.

How busy will it be?

Always seems to get the weather predictions wrong at this point in the week, but we may well get some more rain over the weekend and into the week. Same as ever, if it’s not raining then we will be busy

The schools have now broken up, as you may be aware. If it is a sunny day, expect us to be very busy.

What’s on? 

Workshops 

Keep your eyes peeled on social media and hitchinlavender.com website for information on our workshops!

See you next week!

Will

Hello lavender fans!

We are having a bit of a different post this week…

Instead of me telling you a little about the lavender, we would love to see a little of what you got. Please send over your favourite pictures to lavendercompetition@gmail.com, with your name, when you took it and maybe a little caption, for us to include in next week’s post.

Whether you’ve got some pictures of yourselves in the lavender or sunflowers, or some dramatic pictures of the fields themselves – as long as you’d be happy for us to share it – we would love to include it!

No winners or losers here, just a chance to share your experiences of Hitchin Lavender!

Thanks!

Will

Hello Lavender Fans!

Welcome to the 5^th instalment of our weekly Lavender Digest.

This week, the weather has not been on our side. With all the rainfall we have had, our car parks have started to really churn up. Fingers crossed for more sunny weather to dry it all up, but please, if you are thinking of visiting this week and it has been raining, be warned that it is a bit slippy in places. Bring suitable footwear!

Next week… (27/7/2017 – 2/8/2017)

How will the Lavender be looking? 

We are in full bloom right now!

The earlier lavender is starting to turn, unfortunately. Their bloom period is between mid June – mid July, however the main body of the field is looking absolutely stunning! Make sure to come soon to catch the lavender at its best.

Sunflowers? 

Yes! They are looking absolutely fab right now and we’ll expect them for at least another week. 50p a stem to pick them!

How busy will it be this weekend? 

Saturday looks like it will be relatively sunny, so we will be busy. Sunday doesn’t look as good, so come on the Saturday to get the lavender bathing in sunshine!

And in the week? 

The schools have now broken up, as you may be aware. If it is a sunny day, expect us to be very busy.

What’s on? 

Workshops 

27^th July – Paper Cutting with Vanessa Stone (19.00-21.30)

28^th July  – Ceramics with Beth Fairchild (10.30 -12.30)

2^nd August – Ickledrama for Toddlers (10.30-11.30)

For more information go to our events tab on our Facebook or go to http://www.hitchinlavender.com/news

See you next week!

Will

Hello Lavender Fans!

Thank you so much for clicking the link for this our 4^th Lavender Digest!

We have had some complaints about our wheelchair access around the farm. Year on year we try our hardest to improve the experience for everyone, but we recognise that we still have a way to go in some areas.

There is access to every part of our farm, however it is a working farm and our surfaces do get uneven in places. Furthermore all the parking is on grassy areas, which we know is definitely not ideal for wheelchair users, so if you are thinking of coming and have special requirements, please let the parking attendants know and they’ll try to assist you as best they can.

If you have any concerns, or want anything clarifying, please don’t hesitate contacting hitchinlavender@gmail.com and I will endeavour to help you.

On with the digest…

Next week… (21/7/2017 – 26/7/2017)

How will the Lavender be looking? 

We are in full bloom right now! Though we have had some rain in places, meaning the earlier lavender has started to turn, the main body of the field is looking absolutely glorious!

Sunflowers? 

Yes! The sunflowers have really crept up on us this year. Everything is happening a little earlier and we are beginning to have a few flowers come into bloom right now. Because of this, we are allowing you to pick them for 50p a stem!

How busy will it be this weekend? 

The forecast – currently – looks as though it may rain for over the weekend, meaning that it could be quieter, but this may well change. As I’ve mentioned in previous editions, if we are sunny expect it to be busy.

And in the week? 

We have around one more week before the schools break up for summer, as soon as they do we get incredibly busy in the week and on weekends. If you were hoping to come for a quieter visit, then this may be the best week for it.

What’s on? 

Workshops 

21st July – Outdoor Beer Yoga (19.30-20.30)

22nd July  – Morning Meditation (9.00-10.00)

23^rd July – Photography Workshop (10.00-12.30)

26^th July – Photography Workshop (10-12.30)

27^th July – Toddler Tales (10.00-11.00, 11.00-12.00)

– Paper Cutting with Vanessa Stone (19.00-21.30)

For more information go to our events tab on our Facebook. Our news tab on our site will be updated tomorrow! So keep your eyes peeled on there for info on how to book a place for any of these fab workshops!

See you next week!

Will