Field of Flowers…in the lead-up to Christmas…
Hello everyone!
Well…here I am back at my desk and sending you a heartfelt (if belated) happy new year. I hope you had a chance to take some time out, to down tools and revitalise since last we were in touch and that the festive season was kind to you. No doubt some of us will have faced challenges or endured sadness on some level during these last weeks too…life isn’t all a bed of roses; but I do like to present upbeat messages from here, filled with hope and possibility….the opportunity to dream…a brief moment of escapism. There’s no doubt we live in challenging times…of social and environmental upheaval. Gardening for me, yields time to think, to ponder…and gardening is something I have done a great deal of these last weeks, and still I’m not finished the summer pruning (or sorted the world’s problems)…but I have kept the field in check!
And how it has flourished! I know I haven’t yet explained the six rows to you in great detail, but I’ll begin to fill you in on that score during the course of this year. Late last year I began to allude to some tantalising days that will incorporate the field and come to fruition as the seasons unfurl…and I’ll raise them again when the time is right.
One intoxicating day that did take place though, was the inaugural LAVENDER HARVEST & DISTILLATION WORKSHOP! How thrilled I was with the response to that proposal in the lead-up to Christmas (despite the implied necessity for spontaneity and flexibility) and oh the fun for those who acted upon my flurry of short notice communication!
It was on the third day of January that five of you spent a glorious day with me here. It was one of those magical summer days…the kind you dream of, hope for…and make memories of. It began clear and bright with long shadows cast over the cool field. By the time I’d got the umbrellas up, gathered the baskets and hessian sacks in preparation and morning tea was down the hatch, the sun was already climbing high and the temperature too. The air was filled with birdsong, punctuated with the trill of cicadas and the constant drone of bees as snip, snip, snip went the secateurs at work, yielding handfuls, then armfuls of long lavender stems. The atmosphere was imbued with a haze of lavender and sense of blissful calm as all were engaged in gentle activity. When the snipping was done (and I declared we had enough!) we sat on folding chairs or with bottoms on the raised row under the brollies in the middle of the field to sip cool rosemary water and talk all things field of flowers…before taking our haul to the Dairy where…this immersive day continued to engulf the senses. There was even a summer thunderstorm on cue…all dark, broody clouds and rumbling thunder to accompany the conversation and sense of camaraderie that had grown during the morning’s activity. There was literally electricity in the air! After a delicious lunch in the cool shade and a complete distillation (alongside some other fun) lavender water was bottled, labelled, distributed and other treasures bundled, before everyone enjoyed a generous scoop (or two!) of Rum & Raisin ice cream (a midsummer obsession of mine!) before floating off on a lavender-hued cloud.
Of course this workshop can’t be repeated ’til the lavender does its thing all over again at the end of this year, but if you would like to join the list for next time…please contact me! I’m going to bring the likely dates forward, to the very unsociable week before and week after Christmas! But what the heck? If that’s when the lavender is going to do its thing, then that is when these days will occur! Tell you what though…the day would make a fabulous Christmas present for you to experience with a friend or two…and an intoxicating, immersive day out from the festive mayhem!
On another note…the new season’s LAVENDER WATER is now available! I was able to capture only two distillations this season – the first on 21 and the second on 22 December. Christmas week had my attention elsewhere and we just scraped in with the workshop on 3 January before that glorious storm…and the weather put an end to any further distillations. So when I say I carry out ‘small batch distillation’ here, I really do mean it! I’m thrilled with the water I captured though…it’s potent! Pure as standing in the field, it’s enough…in that moment you mist…to make you quite giddy…you can almost hear the bees! If you would like to order a little bottle, you can head to the Botanical Water page here!
Whilst on the topic of Botanical Water, there’s a connection to mention…which you may think a bit odd but…here goes:
An oft repeated comment I receive…whether at workshops here or talks elsewhere is: “if only you could bottle your energy”. It’s been mentioned with increasing regularity since those early kitchen gardening days and back then I could only put it down to my enthusiasm for the growing and nurture and passion for this little plot of land and sharing all I’ve learned about the cycle of growing organic produce and following a garden-to-plate way of life. I’m honestly not sure I have any more energy than the next person! But if I do…all I can suggest is that you may find it…captured along with the pure plant essence (which in turn holds the energy of sun, water and our soil) in the Botanical Water. Because it’s me alone who has picked every blossom, leaf or flower spike and me alone who has carried out the distillation, quietly immersed with focus and intent on the task. Just as a cook will tell you their love is in the food, the essence of the grower and distiller must surely, by osmosis, be captured in the water. So if indeed that perceived energy is what you would like in a bottle...this is as close as I’m ever likely to get!
Which brings me to…a less esoteric note (no…I haven’t gone all new age!): On postage…
The cost for one bottle seems rather extravagant to me but at the beginning, when I had only Rose Geranium to offer and was searching for a way to pack and post it, there was little else I could do but suggest you buy one bottle. Now though…there are three to offer and in glorious season: Lavender, Orange Blossom and Rose Geranium…so why not order one of each? It makes the postage seem much more reasonable for that hint of the garden here, captured in a bottle!
At this stage, I don’t have any specific workshops or events to announce. They will of course, be coming…but in the meantime, I wish you a gentle easing into the year. Here, there is heat still to endure and although Thalia is back at last to her few days a week (to be honest we could employ two full-time gardeners here as well as us which of course is impossible!) I have a LOT of gardening to do!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me…many of you hit the reply button to these newsletters and I love to hear from you – it’s like having a multitude of pen-pals!
Very best wishes as always,
Mickey
ps If you would like to read more about the Field of Flowers here’s the link to the webpage (no longer are the images at the top of bare, hessian-covered rows!)
pps Aaron Bertelsen has invited me to join an Instagram Live conversation with him this evening (Thursday) at 8pm east coast Australian daylight saving time! We’d love you to eavesdrop! The opportunity to listen (don’t worry…you don’t need to participate) should appear at the top left of your own ‘home’ Insta page in the ‘stories’ line. For it to appear though, you need to be sure you are following one of us! You can do that by following this link to my Glenmore House Instagram page (if you’re not already following)…or this one to Aaron’s!
