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.
Lot Number Goatsong 11
Lot Number Goatsong 11 This year 2011 most of the lavender we cut to dry came from field Goatsong, an area between our house and the labyrinth. This lavender grows in thin topsoil and the plants have grown more slowly over the years. But even now, at age 12, they are putting out the long… Read more »
Toyon leading goats up slope. Lot Number Toyon 11 Each year Ramon looks for those plants whose stems are the longest for bouquet making, and this year the field Toyon was one of two that won! Field Toyon is on an north-facing slope above the Chardonnay. Often the lavender there blooms earliest. The little brown… Read more »
Lot Number Labyrinth 11
Lot Number Labyrinth 11 Labyrinth after the 2008 fire. The labyrinth has many stories: The morning after Donald and I laid it out using only a rope and stakes, we found a snake skin, shed overnight, in the center. The labyrinth lavender often distills twice as much oil per pound as the lavender nearby… Read more »
Lot Number Natalie 11 We named this lavender field after our first queen goat Natalie. Natalie was a tiny pygmy goat, very attached to me but reticent about meeting anyone she did not know. She kept order, giving a good butt if another goat (like Boris!) was out of line. She also was the mother… Read more »
Terroir and Lot Numbers: Sophia 11
Field “Sophia” In organic certification we are required to track product backward through its production to the field in which it grew through lot numbers. Lot numbers say a lot (no pun intended!) about the product. Each field of lavender has a name: Sophia, Toyon, Natalie, Goatsong, and Labyrinth. The first part of the “lot… Read more »
P.I. relaxing Cat Strike! What are your problem pests? the Organic System Plan, the many-page form we update yearly, asks. There is no category for “cat”, just “other animals”. As is often the case, P.I., who owns the cool, dark basement storage area, (ideal for storing essential oils… Read more »
Feasting Foodies or The Saga of the Organic Hay
A feasting “foodie” Feasting Foodies or The Saga of the Organic Hay It started like this: We got a notice from our certifier Demeter that an herbicide used in hayfields to control weeds was not breaking down through composting and was stopping the germination of seeds. We were… Read more »
Putting Oak Bark “prep” into manure ball. It’s a Messy Job, but Someone’s Got to do it! We wear gloves to insert compost preps. Once I didn’t―and, well, let’s just say, even lemon juice and Clorox didn’t help! We insert six biodynamic compost preps into the pile in… Read more »
Large load! Shoveling Sh_ _! Yes, it smells like it looks, and yet, it is like gold to us! Since we do not have cows on our ranch, and cow manure is the Biodynamic gold standard for fertility, Donald got two truckloads from Tresch’s Family organic dairy this… Read more »
Wood chips at base of live oak. Knock, Knock, Who’s There? Last week I discovered a pile of wood chips at the base of a live oak I walk and drive by each day on our lane. Further investigation revealed a three inch hole about five feet up… Read more »
© 2024 Patricia Damery.
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