The Rumsey Lavender Farm

We headed into the Capay Valley over the weekend to check out the Rumsey Lavender Festival.

Rumsey turned out to be not too different than Zamora, other than having three times more people and being less developed, probably because of its remote location.  You get there by taking windy, country two lane roads.

The farm is small, just a few acres, with some big oaks and fruit and olives dotted around. Rosemary and Oleander and Grapes grow wild on the perimeter and in the center are rows and rows of lavender. They have six varieties planted - three American and three English varieties.

We were too late for the farm tour, and so wandered around and tasted some free samples ... lavender shortbread cookies, lavender mint iced tea, lavender brownies, and lavender lemonade.  The recipes were printed and sitting in a basket next to the food table for visitors to take home. Everything was good, but the lavender lemonade was exceptional. We came home and first thing made up a batch. We didn't have enough fresh lemons on hand, so we substituted bottled juice which still tasted okay. You can really tell the difference, though.

They had little lavender bushes for sale, and we picked up two Hidcote and two Buena Vista, both of them English varieties. We have six American lavender in the ground already - and these will be a nice compliment with their deep purple flowers in a more compact, rounded bush. The English lavendar is quite fragrant and striking.

The Rumsey Lavender Farm sells year round the most wonderfully fragrant body sprays and lanolin based moisturizers, warming oil, soaps, and of course small vials of essential oils.  They are an organic farm, as well. http://cachecreeklavender.com 

In the shade under the tree was a jazz quartet playing smooth background music, and situated near the arts and crafts table where children made things to take home.  A local vintner offered wine tasting if you wanted to do that, and local wines were for sale.

We learned about the different varieties and their use, and snipped two large bunches of blooms to bring home. The fragrance in the air was unbelieveable.

We sprayed down with our homemade mosquito repellent before going and walked with confidence right between the rows with bees hovering all around. We actually were able to reach in and snip stems and the bees agreeably moved out of the way. That's a definite first for me.

It was enchanting. I have never been that close to a lot of bees, right among them, as they happily fed on the nectar.  I am allergic and have been afraid of them all my life. But since moving to the farm with hives all around, it has been great to get over some of that and learn to appreciate and trust them more ... especially with an Epi-Pen in the medicine cabinet. :)

All in all, it was a pretty great day.