Thanks for 2011!

Ok so there's still technically one more day after today (but i'm not coming in tomorrow!) but thanks to everyone for a fantastic 2011 and we all look forward to a great New year here on the farm.

We've just got back from our holidaying and it's not even freezing... which is really good for us and even better news for all our plugs - which are looking great!

Many thanks again from all

Christmas in Argentina!

Hello to everybody suffering the cold climate in the UK.. Some of Hitchin Lavender have been spending the past month in glorious (and rather sunny) Argentina

A Big thanks to the rest of the family who have been working so hard on markets, sales, tweets and other things - whilst we've been working hard as well, on primarily... our tans!

Taking lazy walks around Noel's home town of Carmen de Areco we have come across much lavender (see photo) although not common in the UK - Canariensis and Dentata species and there subsequent sub-species varieties are commonplace in warmer climates. They can live in the UK but become indoor/conservatory plants as these aren't fully hardy plants. If you like what you see then you'll be pleased to know that we will be selling similar varieties next year so watch this space! With currently 55 varieties growing in our poly tunnel (need more space!) we should have plenty to display and sell

Best wishes from all in Argentina!!! xxx

Christmas Break

Hi everyone,

Have a lovely Christmas and new year, the internet shop will still take orders over the Christmas break but items won't get posted until Wednesday 28th... (I have to let the mince pies settle...)

xx

Christmas Presents

There's still a couple more days left to buy online for those last minute Christmas presents. The last recommended date for Royal Mail parcel delivery is the 14th December, with smaller first class items a little later, so don't delay order today!

Christmas Market Sunday 11th December

Hi everyone, we'll be at Hitchin Gala Market Day on Sunday the 11th December and we'll have lots of home grown lavender Christmas presents for you. There will be lots of stalls at the market and it guaranteed not to be cold...

Lavender presents for Christmas!

If you check on our Products page you will now find plenty of our products available to purchase through the power of the web! Hitchin Lavender gift sets make an ideal Christmas present as do our Wheat packs (a great way of relaxing at the end of the day). We'll also be at a number of Christmas markets over the next few weeks so pop back to have a look at the forthcoming dates..

Hitchin Lavender at Hitchin farmers and craft market!

Just because the season is over doesn't mean that we've earned the right for a day off! Catch us today and see our large range of lavender products. Also selling honey from the farm, gift boxes (great for Christmas presents), and plants!

Hitchin Lavender last day of the season!

A beautiful day to close on - the sun is out so why not pop down and see us at Hitchin Lavender. Today is our last of the season and as well as all of our plants being on a huge sale to take advantage of the barn also offers a nice range of gift ideas for Christmas presents. Hitchin Lavender gift boxes, Our local honey!, wheat and lavender heat bags,, body lotions, and many many more of our 100% hitchin lavender products! The Sunflowers are also still in bloom to and it is free to wander around!

Thanks everyone for visiting us and hope to see you soon

Dont forget that although we may be closed after today you can still buy a lot of our products online.

See you in the Spring!

Sunflowers in full flower

Hitchin Lavender sunflowers are out and it's sunny (for how much long though..) so come and pick pick pick. The barn shop/tea room is still open too with lots products and ideas for Christmas presents to see - and plenty of cake to eat!

Last few days...

There are only another couple of weeks left until we close for the autumn. The sunflowers look fantastic and are a little piece of France in Ickleford/Hitchin/Letchworth! You can get some great deals on the last few plants we have in stock and of course enjoy one of our famous Heavenly Cakes in our spacious tea room - plenty of room for pram parking!

Sunflowers at Hitchin Lavender taken today!!

Come and visit now - whilst it's warm and sunny!

SUNFLOWERS at HITCHIN LAVENDER

With all this sun the sunflowers that we thought would never arrive are finally popping up all over the place. Pick 5 for just £2 from the field + field entrance is free!!!!

2 for 1 at Hitchin Lavender - Children FREE

More and more sunflowers are out and there is still half the field of lavender in flower! We are OPEN TODAY contrary to leaflet and website info - purely because it still looks very very good and they've promised us a very warm and sunny day - so come today!!!

The Sunflowers are coming at hitchin Lavender!!!

After spending all June and July telling everyone we wouldnt be having any sunflowers come up this summer due to the dry Spring when they were sewn.....They are coming!!!!!

Pick a nice day to come and visit us and pick 5 for £2!!! also the lavender is still up in a lot of the field (still over half left to cut!) so for just £4 you can pick a bag (500ish stems) of lavender and 5 giant sunflower heads!!!!!!!!

2 for 1 at Hitchin Lavender - Children FREE

Take advantage of our incredible offer - 2 adults for the price of 1 and children under 14 absolutely free! so for just £4 a family of 4 could have a great day out and leave with four bags of fresh lavender picked by yourselves!

The field is now slowly being harvested but there is still plenty to see and still two thirds of the field is uncut!

Dont miss the lavender whilst it's still at it's best!!!!

Beautiful day to come and visit Hitchin Lavender

We still have full bloom here at Hitchin Lavender but do hurry and come and visit us before the flower gets harvested!!! These shots beneath were taken this morning - as you can see it's still well worth a visit! A beautiful gift shop, light lunches and a whole array of lavender plant varieties available in our barn. Open 7 days a week!

Ice Cream Sunday (and Saturday)

Fancy spending the weekend wandering around lavender in Hertfordshire, just 30 minutes from London? That's what these visitors are doing, these pictures taken just a few minutes ago. Come along and join them walking through miles of lavender rows and of course picking your own bunch of lavender to take home. Free parking and a small tea and gift shop too... And as I type the sun's just come out!

School's Out!

Looking for something to do or somewhere to go now that school's broken up? Child entry is only a £1 at Hitchin Lavender and the rows of lavender are a great place for a family to spend a few hours. Children love running up the rows, finding butterflies and insects whilst parents love the space and freedom that the field offers.

These shots were taken yesterday (more on our flickr pages) proving that pictures speak a 1000 words!

Come and start off your summer holiday at Hitchin Lavender!

Still in Full Bloom at Hitchin Lavender

What better way to spend a day out? Glorious sunshine this morning and a lavender field out in full flower.

The fields are in full bloom and don't get much better than this, so if you're looking for a family day out in or around Hitchin (or within 45 minutes of London) then come along and say hi. Entrance is just £4 for an adult and you can pick a bag of lavender to take home.

The fields are great for photography, butterfly watching or just walking around listening to the bees and skylarks.

Oh and don't forget the tea room and gift shop so you satisfy your sweet tooth as well as your eyes!

Unfortunately the sunflowers have fallen victim to the spring drought and won't be making an appearance this year :-(

Full Bloom at Hitchin Lavender

To all Lavender lovers

Hitchin Lavender is now just coming in to full bloom!!! If you haven't been before it is well worth the visit!Or if you came earlier in the season and asked one of us when would we be completely in flower.....NOW IS THE TIME!!!! The duration of the bloom will probably be about 4 weeks - so come and see for yourselves!!!

As well as seeing and walking the field (and picking your own)we also have 20+ varieties of fantastic lavender plants available for purchase on the farm - hurry while stocks last!

Film on The Farm at Hitchin Lavender

We're now just nine days away from the opening of the Barnardo's Film on The Farm. Tickets for 'Mamma Mia' and the People's Choice film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' are trotting out of the door, whilst our four legged lawnmowers are doing their best to cut the grass down in time!

You can get your ticket by popping into the shop - Our opening times are 10am-5pm or on the Barnardo's website at http://www.barnardos.org.uk/onlineshop/events/acatalog/Film_on_the_farm.html which is open all the time!

The field looks fantastic now and all the early varieties are in full bloom, they won't be in flower forever so come and visit us whenever you fancy - We're open seven days a week and entry into the fields is between 10am-5pm everyday

From the Art...

The large number of photos of Hitchin Lavender on Flickr is testament to the number of photographers we have visit, however this week has been all about a slightly slower medium. We attended the launch of Kat Flynn's exhibition in London last night and loved two of her paintings in particular "Alec's Field" and "Purple Storm" - both pieces of the Hitchin Lavender fields. Details of her exhibition can be found here and prints can be bought online at www.kalflynnart.com

Sunday brought a number of amateur painters to the farm and then on Monday we received an email from Simon Fielder who's painted three fantastic paintings of our fields. Simon's original pieces of art are all for sale (£35-£60) so if you're interested please get in touch via email.

Hold the front page!

...well close enough, page 3 of The Express today and also at the Daily Mail Online. We'll upload some scans later today but the photos tell the real story - the lavender is looking fantastic. If you're in or visiting Hitchin or Hertfordshire and want to come and see the lavender fields please pop in and say hi!

Ickleford Open Gardens

Sunday 26th is Ickleford Open Gardens day and anyone with a programme gets into the field for free. The lavender is looking fantastic at the moment and we're expecting some great warm weather - which is just as well as we spent the morning cleaning the ice cream bike! Visit flickr to see what the fields look like today.

Open 7 days a week

A quick update on what the lavender looks like at the moment - this shot was taken a couple of hours ago. For more pictures visit our flickr pages The lavender fields are now open 7 days a week which making those last minute day trips out of London or Cambridge even easier!

Remember to bring a pair of scissors when you visit as the £4 entrance fee includes a bag so you can take home a bunch of hand picked freshly cut lavender!

Don't forget our 2-for-1 webshop deal for lavender essential oils and your last chance to purchase a place on Rachel Warne's photography workshop day.

Essential Offer

Just a quick update to say that for a short time only we're offering a two for one deal on all of our essential oils for purchases from our webshop. We sell two different varieties of lavender oil - Angustifolia lavender oil (sometimes known as English lavender) and an Intermedia Lavander oil (sometimes known as lavandin) they both have slightly different scents - with the Lavandin having a stronger slightly campherous note to it. Visit our shop to make the most of this before we change our minds!!

Website revamped

The webshop has just been virtually restocked and revamped - the online equivalent of getting the shopfitters in. It's now packed full with all of the new products we've been busy organising over the spring.

All of our products are made with our own lavender, either using our own farm grown and dried lavender or our fantastic essential oil. The new products include an amazing Lavender Body Butter, divine Lavender and Cocoa Butter bath melts, some pretty special lavender candles too and much more besides.

You can check them out here

We've also been busy planning some special events for the summer, including an open air cinema with the lovely people at Barnardo's; an excellent photography course in our lavender fields with award winning photographer Rachel Warne and we're just finalising details for a wonderfully relaxing Yoga Day with our pals at Pop Up Yoga.

You can find out about all of the events we're planning by clicking here

Hope to see you soon.

Hitchin Lavender Now Open!

Hitchin Lavender Now Open!........

.........No rain for 2 months - The day we open it pours....

....would be rather annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that we really needed it! - might even make the tulips and alliums perk up a bit more!!

The Final Countdown!

It doesn't seem to matter how many late night and long days you put in the last few days before the start of the season always seem crazy. We open on Saturday 7th May and although fields have a little way to go before they flower they already smell amazing. We'll have 20 varieties of lavender to buy in the shop and a huge number of new products that we've been working on over the winter. It would be lovely to see you, so pop on in for a coffee and a chat this Saturday.

Taking Group Bookings now...

Hi everyone, January was clearly the month when everyone took advantage of their new diaries and got in touch to book group tours. As a result of this early interest and in response to your comments last year we've increased the number of tours we offer each day and will be opening seven days a week during peak season. Click here to see our opening hours.

You don't have to book to come and see us of course but if you're a member of a group and want to take advantage of the tours we offer then these do need to be prebooked. There are some great benefits of prebooking group tours evening tours after we close to the public.

To book your tour call us on 01462 434320 or drop Nick an email at nick@hitchinlavender.com

It hasn't just been tours that have kept the phone ringing, we've had more enquiries than ever about hosting wedding receptions at Hitchin Lavender, we're now full for 2011 but we are taking bookings for 2012, if you'd like more information just call the number above or email Tim at tim@hitchinlavender.com