What to do at Jardin du Soleil

There is so much to do on the farm!  For both the visitor and the farmer.  Thats why this page isn't quite done yet....

Springtime brings the awakening of the lavender plants. Beginning in April the farm is just waking up from its winter nap. The lavender plants are beginning to get their new green leaves and as you walk among the plants you can start to get a subtle lavender fragrance, especially as you brush against them. The bees are buzzing around looking for any sweetness they can find, good thing we take our organic certification seriously and leave the wildflowers and dandelions unsprayed so they have food to eat and start making honey for the fall harvest. While at the farm you can wander the fields, get lost in our garden maze and of course shop for all the lavender goodies in our gift shop. Don't forget to grab a dried bundle of lavender to take the scent home with you. While you are here say hi to our goats and chickens, they are missing the visitors while we were closed for the winter. 

Summertime brings the excitement! Beginning around the end of June the Lavender starts to bloom. Of course each year is different because of natural influences like the amount of sun and the winter and spring weather patterns that can affect the bloom time each year. Once the bloom starts the farm is alive! You can still wander the fields but now you can also pick your own fresh bundle of lavender or have us cut one for you. The bees are really alive now, so much so that if you stand in the field you can hear and even feel them buzzing, it's really something to experience! The farm is the perfect place to bring a picnic and find one of the tables we have set on the fields and RELAX, there is plenty of space to find your own spot and enjoy! 

The lavender bloom is celebrated in Sequim with a Lavender Weekend the 3rd full weekend in July every year. Check out this page for more information about our festival celebration. 

As the summer progresses the lavender harvest begins. As visitors you can be a part of that process by joining in our Essential Oil Experience where you get to harvest and distill with us and even take some of the oil you made home. Each day during harvest on this active farm you will find the farmers harvesting, processing and distilling this beautifully fragrant herb for use in all the products made right here on the farm. You can ask all the questions you have ever wondered about lavender. Don't forget to ask how these farmers became farmers.  

Autumn begins with wrapping up the harvest. We usually harvest for distilling essential oil and hydrosol in the last weeks of July or the first weeks in August depending on the bloom season each year. It takes us about six weeks to finish the whole crop. The lavender flowers may have faded but life on the farm continues. The you may not be able cut a bundle from the fields but don't worry the shop is stocked full of the seasons freshly harvested goods, it's really the best time to get dries bundles, wreaths and other unique lavender crafts that were made with the seasons lavender. Be sure to get a jar of freshly pulled honey from our bees. You can even get yourself a few bundles to try making a wreath yourself. As the weather cools the lavender gets ready to go into dormancy for the winter, before it does we prune the plants back to just an inch of green before halloween. Fall is a great time to visit with the farm goats and chickens as well as sit and view the migratory birds passing over the changing maples.