Tag: Life Under the Oaks Lavender Farm

An Artist’s Date

Tucked away in the countryside surrounding the town of Oracle, about an hour’s drive north of Tucson, is one of Arizona’s hidden gems. This spring, when temperatures in Arizona were still tolerable, a friend invited me to sign up for a wreath making class offered at Life Under the Oaks Lavender Farm.

On event day, the mid-June forecast was for triple-digit weather. “Oracle will be a few degrees cooler, due to its higher elevation, plus, this is when the lavender will be in full bloom. We can’t miss it! It will be a few degrees cooler in the higher elevation. Bring a sun hat and water–we’ll be fine,” my friend said.

Arriving early for our class, we had plenty of time to visit the gift store where “all things lavender” were sold; shelves stocked with soaps, wreaths, and lavender-themed gifts.

Following the path to the lavender fields we strolled through a fairyland of antiques and unique garden art : a weathered wooden cart filled with freshly cut lavender, a heart-shaped sculpture made of aqua glass and stone, an aqua iron bench under the shade of a tree, a lavender-hued wringer-style washing machine.

Small groups of visitors sat around shaded picnic tables to sip lavender lemonade and nibble dainty lavender cookies. In the field, neatly planted rows of lavender waved amethyst-studded stems, sending wafts of fragrance our way.

When it was time for our class to begin, we gathered under a 300-year old Emery Oak tree, known as “Five sisters” in honor of its five connecting trunks. Carolyn, our workshop leader and owner of the farm, grouped us around tables set with grape-vine wreaths and bundles of fresh-cut lavender stems.

She demonstrated how to attach small batches of the blooms to the wreath using bits of wire, showed us some examples of wreaths she had made, then turned us loose with ribbons and dried flower accents to fashion our own creations.

While we worked, Carolyn relayed the story of how Life Under the Oaks Lavender Farm came to be. She was drawn to this place because of the oak trees, and thought lavender might do well here. The land was wild and had to be cleared and tamed, “sometimes with a machete,” she said.

Carolyn went on to say that often, as wives and mothers, we focus on our families. It was time, she felt, to do something for herself. This was her dream, her passion, turned into reality. It is obvious she enjoys sharing the land with others. Bit by bit the farm is growing. A barn and new bathroom facilities were recently added, with plans for a greenhouse in the works.

For me, this morning on the lavender farm provided an opportunity to express myself in a completely novel way. Unlike creating with words on a page, this medium was visual, tactile, even olfactory as the aroma of lavender permeated the air. An “artist’s date” my friend remarked, referring to the term Julia Cameron uses in her book “the Artist’s Way” to describe a block of time set aside to nurture one’s creative consciousness.

“Artist’s date!? Oh, I haven’t used that term in ages!” I said to me friend.

I was long overdue.