The following posts were taken from the website for Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields, which we operated from 2010 until 2019. They offer a window into our lives on the farm and the ways the farm changed us. In 2018 we decided to end our lavender business but we continue to work with our land in ways that bring balance and health. Posts on this website will continue to follow our work.
Preparing for the Open House One of the reasons we have our Open House each year at Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields is to tell you how we apply Biodynamic farming principles on our ranch. We love to explain how we plant a diversity of plants, what we have learned that has worked, and what… Read more »
A native bumble bee visits the lavender this morning. The bees tell us when the lavender is ready to be harvested, and they are beginning to speak! They notice when the first calyxes open and pollen is available. This is the time that we harvest the lavender to be dried as it will not “shatter”… Read more »
Tomorrow morning I will be a guest on Holistic Health Talk Radio for Women at 9:30 am PDT/12:30 pm EDT, the topic: The Spirituality of Biodynamic Farming. The link has call in instructions. Please consider joining the discussion! View Our Lavender Products
Honey bees are drawn to the Buckeye , which is just finishing its bloom, and yet, the pollen is toxic to the bee. The bees take the pollen back to the hive and feed it to the developing bees. The result is wingless bees: if too many are wingless, they cannot forage, and the hive… Read more »
Mistakes: Butterfly Capers
If you look closely, you can see several monarchs in this butterfly bush in our garden. Butterfly bushes are touted as good plants to draw pollinators, but there are better, more balanced alternatives. I am not sure you would call it a big mistake, but upon attending the Geography of Hope seminar at the native… Read more »
Mr. Quail. The Mrs. is in front of him, her head obscured by the blurry grape leaf. The goats heard the alarm cry this morning before I did: Te-te-te-te! Te-te-te-te! They stopped, and a quail couple trotted through the fence and into the vineyard. We won’t hurt you, I said softly, but nevertheless, they ran into… Read more »
Last year when the wild turkey was brooding eggs by the lavender labyrinth, Ramon told us not to even think of the turkey when the dogs were around. He said they would see our thoughts and go after her. She lived to hatch and raise a rafter of turkeys and she is at it again this… Read more »
Clarkia, or Farewell-to-spring. I always have a sadness when this little flower blooms. Clarkia, or Farewell-to-spring, means that the succession of wildflowers is almost over. Of course, the farming harvest has only begun! The lavender will be cut very soon for drying, the garden is coming on. In July when the lavender is more fully… Read more »
Neptune’s trident behind a small but strident goat. I know this flower as Neptune’s trident, although there are several other common names. It comes late spring along with the Mariposa tulip, a member of the lily family. It too is part of the natural biodiversity here, both supporting our native pollinators. We wait to mow areas… Read more »
Wild Strawberry, last sighting! They are here for a very brief period— the small, extremely delicious berries that grow in several patches around our ranch. They are impossible to get back to the house for any sharing with Donald on, say, ice cream, as they disappear almost as soon as they leave the stem! I… Read more »
© 2024 Patricia Damery.
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