The Beautiful Salinas Valley

It was so foggy this morning when I was driving up the Salinas Valley. When I arrived at the farm, the sun was shining bright, it was a beautiful winter morning. I love days like today, Happy Friday!

Rain, Rain...Wonderful Rain

We have received over 1 1/2 inches of rain this weekend and our plants are all really happy right now. Living in California, we know that any year can be a low rain year, but when we realized that we have only received 2 1/2 inches of rain so far for our entire season, we were getting a little worried. The majority of our plants are drought resistant and we are capable of irrigating everything, but adequate rainfall makes a huge difference.

Valentine's Day 2012

February 14th will be here before we know it. Every year at this time our staff is always looking for more creative ways to say Happy Valentine's Day. We design herb hearts, pepperberry hearts and floral hearts in many colors and sizes. We lay them out and then everyone comments on their favorites. We are always amazed how each of us have such a different opinion of what is beautiful. As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This Valentine's day remember to appreciate the beautiful things in life, whatever that may be for you and share something beautiful with your sweetheart!

Farming In The Winter

After the holiday rush (our peak season) our operation has changed from one of intense wreath production to a time of reflection and planning. We continue to ship winter wreaths and are designing for not only spring, but for fall and holiday 2012.

Our production is gearing up for Valentine’s Day, yet our fields require little attention. All of the herbs are dormant and waiting for spring to begin blooming. Our newest lavender plants, planted in the fall of 2011, appear to be doing well. Our lavender field planted last spring (shown below) is thriving. We actually harvested a few hundred bunches of lavender from it during the late summer and early fall. It is mainly planted with lavandula angustifolia "Purple Bouquet". We love the deep, rich color it adds to our wreaths.

We have been weeding our fields when necessary but with the lack of rain, this task has been minimal in comparison to years past. While the dry winter has helped keep the weeds away, we had to water in early January for the first time in many years. We are looking forward to some rain and a nice spring.