Mesa del Sol Lavender

At a farmers market a couple of months ago, I met Ann, the owner of the Mesa del Sol winery. Ann said that she had quite a bit of lavender that she harvested from their lavender plants at their winery in Arroyo Seco. At their winery, they have a long drive alongside the vineyard leading up to the house, and both sides of the driveway is lined with lavender!

The lavender has been harvested already, and Ann needed help distilling the essential oil. So I took a ride out to Mesa del Sol, which is actually fairly close to my farm. It is quite a stunning property. If you are interested, you can check it out on their website (http://www.mesadelsolvineyards.com/). There is an adorable historic farmhouse. Ann is an architectural designer, so the whole place is done esquisitly. There is even a very charming rock-walled workshop and a gorgeous pool and grounds. My son and I got the grand tour. There is a stunning view of the Arroyo Seco river (which is going quite nicely). And an ominous view of the burned hillsides from this year's Indians Fire which got quite close. Ann grows her own vegetables there as well, so we got a wonderful tour of the private garden.

The lavender was sacked in very large burlap coffee sacks. We stuffed the truck full to the brim on our first load. In the photo on the right you can see the sweet smelling load. We called them giant sachets. The ride home was absolutely intoxicating. We played loud music to keep us from slipping into a lavender induced coma while driving home.

I'm preparing the distillery now for the distillation. This should keep me busy for the rest of this week and most of next too most likely.

I have a feeling my truck is going to be smelling mighty fine for quite some time!!