Lavender Festival at Beliveau Estate Winery
Here’s a festival to appeal to all of your senses.
Beliveau Estate Winery in Blacksburg is hosting a Lavender Festival tomorrow, June 24, from 12:00-6:00. The winery grows lavender and it’s all in bloom right now.
They are advertising “Learn About Lavender” lectures, lavender hand massages, picnic foods, lavender plants and products, and fresh lavender bouquets for sale.
There’s also music by the harpist, Helen Cooley, from 1:00-3:00, and a Plein Air Art Contest.
Beliveau Estate Winery invites you to come enjoy a glass of wine or lavender lemonade, on-site hiking, a stocked pond and picnic spots, all among the spectacular, and calming, sight and scent of lavender.
Lavender is one of my personal favorite plants. We had a huge bed growing at our old house, and intend to someday have one here as well. It’s beautiful while blooming, but the incredible scent is something to enjoy every time you walk by.
One of my favorite tips is lavender as insect control: if you have a lavender plant, rub the leaves, then rub your hands over your arms and other exposed flesh, before heading out to garden. It keeps the bugs away and smells a whole lot better than commercial insect repellents.
Admission to the festival is free. Beliveau Estate Winery is located at 5415 Gallion Ridge Road in Blacksburg (Catawba Valley). Visit their website for more information.
June 23, 2012 - 7:00 AM
KH, I’m sure you see Lindsey Nair often. In a column she put out last fall, it was about apples and what they were used for. Could you nudge her to put one out soon on peaches, since they are starting to come in. An excellent piece for apple lovers, and hopefully she will see fit to do the same for peach lovers. Types and when we will see them[time of year to be looking] in the valley. Thanks a bunch.
I haven’t had much time online lately, but I am proud to say that I got the first lettuce and onions out of my garden yesterday! I scalded them the way my mom always does. They were such a welcome addition to dinner, something grown in my own garden! I’ve got peppers, green beans and tomatoes starting to make a showing now too.
How is everyone elses gardens doing? Missed talking to you all.
DCarol makes a tasty peach/lavender jam. Gardenwise, as of this week, the broccoli is done and I’ve gotten a few zucchini and crookneck squash, miniature cabbage heads (a great advancement for those of us who can’t use a normal head in a timely manner),kale, one cherry tomato and loads of blueberries. We were late getting potatoes in the ground (but not quite late enough to thwart all the potato beetles, Karen)so I’m trying to be patient and let them grow a bit more. Some of the beans are blooming. Our valley has been skipped over for rain this weekend so I will probably be watering soon.
DCarol: Peach/lavender jam sounds wonderful. Any chance you’d share the recipe?
We’re getting tons of blueberries too! Yum!
I saw the book below in our library and checked it out. There were so many recipes that I liked that I ended up ordering the book from Amazon. I made the Peach Lavender Jam last summer and gave it as little Christmas gifts for teachers and friends. I used the little half pint jars instead of the pint. This was an easy recipe!
Peach Lavender Jam – from “250 Home Preserving Favorites- From Jams & Jellies to Marmalades & Chutneys” by Yvonne Tremblay (2010). (p. 65)
3 tbsp dried organic lavender flowers
1/3 cup boiling water
4 cups finely chopped peeled peaches
1/4 cup lemon juice
7 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 pouches (3 oz.) liquid pectin
1. Place lavender in a small heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over the flowers; let steep for 20 mins. Strain, reserving liquid; discard lavender.
2. In a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pot, combine lavender infustion, peaches and lemon juice. Bring to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
3. Add sugar in a steady stream, stirring constantly. Return to a full boil, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar.
4. Immediately stir in pectin; return to a full boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
5. Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Stir for 5 to 8 minutes to prevent floating fruit.
6. Ladle into sterlixed jars to within 1/4 inch of rim; wipe rims. Apply prepared lids and rings; tighten rings just until fingertip-tight.
7. Process jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Transfer jars to a towel lined surface and let rest at room temperature until set. Check seals; refrigerate any unsealed jars for up to 3 weeks.
Makes about seven 8 ounce jars.
***Only use lavender that has been grown without pesticides or herbicides. Lavender thrives in full sun and well drained soil. Pick flower clusters just as flowers begin to open. Let dry, then store in covered glass container. Leave whole for the best flavor preservation; crumble when using. Dried laveder flowers for culinary use are available at some specialty kitchen stores or at herb fairs and growers.
Variations:
Peach Jam: omit the lavender infustion.
Peach Vanilla Jam; Omit the lavender and add 1 vanilla bean; remove before ladling into jars.
Necatarine Lavender Jam: Use unpeeled nectarines in place of peaches.
Thanks D Carol!
Growing in our garden at this time: We have one red/orange tomato that is ready to pick any day now. Deep Roots, it is one of yours that you started back in February! We are growing “Cassidy’s Folly” which is a icicle tomato and several plants have developing fruit. The green peppers are developing and then the “Anaheim” peppers are also showing fruit. We just harvested our garlic and are not sure why the heads were smaller this year? My onions, shallots and leeks are doing well. We harvested 2/3 of our broccoli and I froze 47 quarts of chopped broccoli last week. The last row is just setting heads so we are concerned that they will bolt later this week with this impending heat. The corn and beans are up. We didn’t have great germination on the corn. The potatoes have done amazingly well this year. We planted a few “blue” potatoes along with our reds and whites this year so next week we will dig a couple hills and have “Patriotic” potato salad. We also grew the small heads of cabbage and have harvested them. I hope to make some different cabbage soups this week and freeze them for this winter. I would recommend the smaller headed varieties if you do not like a lot of cabbage or you have a small family. The red raspberries are being picked but they are also smaller in size this year. Our (thornless) blackberry bushes look like it might be a good year for them. The greens – kale, collards, beets lettuce and spinach did well. I planted a small row of peas and we picked 7 cups this past weekend that we will freeze in 1/2 cup portions and use in soups and stews this winter.
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results. If you know of any please share. Appreciate it!
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.