Hi Lavender Lovers!   

I apologize for being so unreliable about posting on this blog.  It seems there is always something else to work on or do and this just keeps getting pushed back.  I guess the upside is that when I finally do a post I have lots to write about!

So first of all, it looks like we are going to have our first really good winter since starting the farm in 2018.  We took a walk through the lavender fields and fed the bees a couple of weeks ago, and everything is looking great.  All five beehives are happy and healthy and looking strong. This is super exciting for us since this will be the first time we come out of the winter with the same number of hives we went in with!  If you would like to see the video of our hive check and feeding of the bees you can check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/SleepyBeesLavender/videos/307416972302788.

The lavender is also looking wonderful, lots of pale green color on the plants that don't have row covers on them, and not much winter kill showing.  According to the long range weather forecast we shouldn't be getting anymore dangerous temps for the plants, so all is looking good!  

We have been hard at work updating our website over the winter.  We have added some nice product bundles, new pictures, added all our product ingredients and are currently setting up subscription services.  It is taking a bit longer than expected to get it all updated since we are learning as we go!

So what's going to be different in 2024 at Sleepy Bees Lavender Farm?  We will have additional activities for everyone!

We are starting several new ventures for this year, and are excited about all of them. We are adding some new things to the farm to make it a more interesting and enjoyable experience for people coming out to visit the farm.

This spring we will be planting an extensive herb garden next to our north lavender field.  I have started 3 kinds of basil, thyme, lemon thyme, chamomile, lemongrass, rosemary, parsley, 2 kinds of mint, cilantro, sage, marshmallow, yarrow, stevia, chives, dill, 2 kinds of oregano, and toothache plant.  We are planning to fence this garden in with a walking path so people will be able to go in and cut themselves some fresh herbs.   Most of these plants are excellent for the bees and other pollinators as well, so it's a win-win!  

Next up, Jerry has started a worm farm.  It may sound crazy, but it's good for many reasons.  These little worms create castings, or "worm poo".  I prefer the term black gold myself...anyway, these castings are just full of nutrients and have more benefits than all those nasty chemical fertilizers we all want to get away from.  They will also greatly reduce the amount of garbage we are sending to the landfill since the worms love our kitchen waste!  We are hoping this year to produce enough for our gardens, and by next year have castings and worm tea for sale for others wanting to stay away from chemicals.  

Our last major project for 2024 is planting several rows of cutting flowers.  When we had our Cut Your Own Lavender event last summer it was such a huge hit that we decided it would be great to build on that.  We are planting a variety of cutting flowers in several rows next to the north lavender field in hopes that people will be able to come and cut whole bouquets rather than just lavender.  Of course the lavender will be an option as well, she is still our first love!  

In addition to the herbs and cutting flowers, we will be adding around 800 plants to our lavender rows, doing some re-arranging of the original lavender field (which may result in a small plant sale), keeping our shop open for a couple days a week here at the farm and coming up with some ideas for projects with lavender for possible future classes.  We will continue to work on improving our website and social media sites.

We will have a booth at the Sunday Farmers Market at College View all summer.  We love this market, all the vendors and regular customers are just amazing and really make us love what we do even more every week.  We will be at various shows around the area all season, and hope to add more events at the farm this summer.  Please check the website calendar to find all our planned events.

Thank you all as always for your continued support and encouragement!  It is incredible to be doing something we love and are passionate about for a living and it wouldn't be possible without you all!   Thanks for reading!!