Distillation is about Essence

Collecting unfilteredd lavender essential oil after distillation   Donald is distilling lavender, and it is not a process for the young! In chemist/philosopher Primo Levi’s words,  “…it is a slow, philosophic, and silent occupation, which keeps you busy but gives you time to think about other things…” a process whereby “you acquire the consciousness of… Read more »

Open House Prep: Goat Gate

Curse: May you be blessed with smart goats!                 Open House Prep: Goat Gate The goats do keep us on our toes!  Last year they broke out of their assigned area during the first Biodynamic tour of our ranch and joined us! As much as I love walking… Read more »

Ami Mauntner, Napa Valley Apothecary, to speak at Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields Open House

Ami Mauntner, Napa Valley Apothecary, to speak at Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields Open House Ami Mauntner, proprietor of Napa Valley Apothecary, First Street, Napa, will be speaking at 2 pm on The Many Healing Uses of Lavender for the Mind, Body and Spirit. She will demonstrate recipes for making lavender inspired body care products and healing… Read more »

Special Event at the Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields Open House: Healing Our Waters

Bokochi balls ready to go to work!       Charlie Toledo, Executive Director of Suscol Intertribal Council, will follow her 11 am talk, One Water: From Rain to Seas, with a demonstration of the making and use of Bokochi balls, a probiotic mud-ball used in Costa Rica and well as our own Napa River… Read more »

Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields Open House: June 22, 2013

Come meet Valley, the goat! Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields Open House: June 22, 2013 Please join us for a day of tours, talks, sensory delights!                                June 22, 2012, 10 am to 4 pm Meet our goats! Sip our Lavender… Read more »

Some of the Visitors

Photographer Lowell Downey of Art and Clarity photographing Clare Cooper Marcus.(You need to contact him to see the photo!) A number of photographers were present Saturday at the Open House. This is Lowell Downey of Art and Clarity, a local Napa photographer and land activist who actually helped us get started with our marketing ten… Read more »

Animals and Farming

Photos by Barbara and Ivan Linderman In Biodynamic farming we are asked to include animals on the farm, something most farmers no longer do. We want to have enough of the right kinds and numbers of animals to provide manures to compost to then fertilize our crops—and have enough food to feed the animals. That… Read more »

How the Goats Get Ready for the Open House

Wrapping tips of horns with horn tape (obvious reasons!) Having an Open House is a little like having a party in the vineyard and lavender fields. Even the goats have to decide what to wear! To wear a bridle or collar? Come meet the goats, take a Biodynamic tour at our Open House, June 23,… Read more »

Diversity: Fuyu Persimmon

Baby fuyu persimmon. One of the places we will visit on the Biodynamic tours of our ranch on Saturday, June 23, is the orchard our son Jesse planted. Monocropping is a sure way to bring sterility to a ranch; allowing a diversity of native plants to flourish and raising a variety of crops offers food… Read more »

Napa Valley Article on the Ranch this Morning: Purple Haze

One or two calyxes are open on the flower heads, signally it is time to harvest for the dried lavender (so it will not “shatter” in a bouquet.)     This morning two events!  The lavender harvest for the lavender we dry has begun, 6:00 am. This year the dried lot number will be Natalie… Read more »