Aromatherapy In Naramata

I have always held a romantic vision of participating in a lavender harvest. Lucky for me, my friends Karolina and Doug own Forest Green Man Lavender Farm in Naramata, and my wish was granted. It was as splendid as I had imagined, a sensory overload of purpley sights and smells, sunshine, big straw hats, intelligent and fun loving banter with co-workers and even leaping dogs...it was magical. However, after a couple of hours, the thrill of being inside this French-like movie set will slightly dim -- this is still farm work, and it is hard slogging in the heat bent over the rows. Bonus is that you are semi-stoned by the calming natural perfumed aroma and that your sweat smells lovely - yay!

It was fun to harvest alongside one of my Food & Wine Trails Magazine writers and local blogger, Elaine Davidson, who captured this wonderful photo of my experience. Unlike my pitiful three hour shift under the sun, Elaine and her husband were there for three or four days from 6 am to noon cutting bundles. High fives to them and to Doug and Karolina who do this every year. Read more about Elaine's lavender picking experience and her other adventures on her blog: http://naramatablendblog.wordpress.com

Doug was leading the harvest and explained the art of lavender bundling to me, as well as providing details on the growth cycle of the plant all done, of course, with his usual hilarious wit and candor. I have attached that clip below (scroll down past the photos). Unfortunately my lovely pal Karolina was nursing a wrist injury from another power shift extracting the flowers from the stems so we had to force her back into the shop to try and rest.

Thank you for the lovely experience Doug & Karolina! Another check mark on my life bucket list. XO

Do plan to visit them on the farm. Karolina is also a beautiful artist and has a lovely art gallery upstairs from the treasure loaded gift shop. forestgreenman.com