I wrapped my arms around my daughter and complained, “Your visits go by so fast! I wish you could stay longer.” After spending a wonderful weekend together, it was time for Tammie to return to her home. Her car was packed and ready to go.  

Tammie assured me, “I’m coming home again in four weeks, and we’ll visit the New Life Lavender Farm in Baraboo. That’s something nice to look forward to, isn’t it? I’ll call Niki to see if she and the kids would like to come with us. It’ll be an educational field trip.”

Waving goodbye as my daughter drove out of the yard, I smiled. Tammie liked to cheer me up by turning my thoughts to activities we would do during her next visit. I thought, “I’m so lucky to have such a thoughtful daughter.”

Lavender plants do well in my garden and some years I even get them to survive winter. But my sweet-scented lavender plants with their small, demure blossoms do not get used to their full potential. I like how they look, but don’t have a clue how to use them other than displayed in a vase.

Four weeks later Tammie was home for another visit. She said, “We need to get to the farm by eleven in the morning on Friday if we want to ride a hay wagon around the lavender fields.” That morning we packed lunch in an icebox. There were eight of us in Niki’s van including my sister, Agnes. We arrived at the farm 15 minutes before the tour, enough time for us to scope out the gift shop where we found a surprising number of lavender-themed products to buy, foods to eat and drink.

Beautiful rows of blossoming lavender fields dotted the gently rolling hills surrounding the gift shop. For a small fee, visitors are allowed to wander about admiring the beautiful fields. Conveniently placed benches provide visitors with places to rest. One field had a waterfall feature with a nearby pergola equipped with porch-swings. In another field there was a koi pond with four sheep grazing in an adjacent field. Because of the beautiful landscaping, people often come to this farm to have their photos taken professionally. We saw a family wearing colorful ethnic clothing posing for pictures while we were there.    

The man who owned the New Life Lavender Farm gave the tour. He had begun the farm eight years before. He described how the entire family worked together doing whatever needed to be done. Their son cared for the beehives until he left home to attend college this year. Fields around the lavender were planted with wildflowers for the bees so they would have nectar when the lavender wasn’t blossoming. The farm also planted a field with flowers that support butterflies. New lavender plants are propagated from cuttings, but the process is complicated. Our tour guide said, “We might start with three cuttings, but often only one takes. Deciding when to water is tricky since the plants are prone to root rot.”

There are 47 known species of lavender, but English and French lavender were mentioned by our tour guide the most. Running my hand along the stem of the English lavender left a sweet scent on my hand. However, doing the same thing to a French lavender stem left a scent that made me think of camphor. Lavender is harvested by hand and steam distillation is used to extract the essential oil.

After we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the shade of a tree near the original farm’s stone barn foundation, we went shopping in the store. Lavender is used for flavoring in drinks and many foods. We bought lavender flavored ice cream, macarons, coffee, and cherry pie. The store also sold air fresheners, candles, beauty creams, and ointments. Lavender is often used to make household and personal care products because it has a calming scent and is soothing to irritated skin. Everywhere I looked, I saw the beautiful flowers or their color. I suspected that when I closed my eyes to sleep that night, I would dream about Lavender.

Weekends go by quickly when Tammie comes home for a visit. Before I knew it, I was once again standing next to her car and telling her, “I wish you could stay longer.”

She said, “I’ll be home for a visit in four weeks. We’ll have a craft party.”

As my daughter drove out of the yard, I waved, happily planning, and looking forward to the party.