Lavender!

Yesterday was my first time at White Oak Farm! In Zest's milk chocolate lavender truffle I have been using lavender from the White Oak Farm, but I have not yet been to visit the farm. So on the warm overcast day yesterday I made a little trip to see this lavender farm.

What a great place! Not only was the drive out Port Republic Road beautiful, so was the farm. When I pulled up and stepped out of the car I could hear birds chirping, horses neigh'ing, and a wonderful soft breeze blew by.

The lavender buds were just barely starting to come out, no purple color was showing yet though. There were however, many other beautiful purple flowers scattered around the farm. This place not only grows lavender, but they seem to love the color. The contrast of the red barn and green grass was also nice and gave the place a comfortable homey feel.

I walked around for a while admiring all the different kinds of lavender bushes growing. (I had no idea there were different varieties!) I also checked out the animals. They have a petting farm, what fun! I didn't pet any animals, but I did admire some cute miniature horses, a llama (I think) eating his lunch, some goats, and some horses.

Finally, I went inside the main store. It was a very friendly atmosphere of joyous laughter and talk of lavender. Lavender oils, soaps, teas, recipes, bath wash, lip balm, sachets...the list goes on and the place was full of it! I was almost overwhelmed with how many lavender products they offered. I did find my way to the culinary lavender though and was able to restock my supply.

It was so great to finally visit the local farm that supplies my lavender. They were great, friendly people, and I enjoyed learning about the farm and how they produce lavender. Most of all I was happy to bring home a bunch of new lavender to work with. This time I made dark chocolate lavender truffles. The dark chocolate may be a better compliment to the lavender rather than milk chocolate. We'll see how well they fare!

Check them out yourself: http://www.whiteoaklavender.com/