Quick Take
Los Gatos Farms, a family-owned farm off of Highway 17, is hosting its last lavender bundling session this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Attendees can expect to help tie lavender stalks into 2-inch bundles to be dried in the farm’s barn, and to be sent home with a few bundles of their own.
When Los Gatos Farms founder Toni Kent first decided to plant lavender, she covered an entire acre with 1,200 of the scented purple-flowered plants. She was drawn to lavender because deer don’t eat it, she said, allowing her to plant it without fencing.
Many of the original varieties have since aged out, she said, but there are still 70 plants of three varieties that produce profusely at the farm just off Highway 17 north of Summit Road.
“I always loved lavender, and I think it’s an amazing, beautiful, healthful herb,” Kent said. “People love it.”
To ensure the farm harvests all of its lavender, Los Gatos Farms hosts annual “U-Cut” and bundling sessions that anyone can participate in on weekends in July and early August. Although the sessions where people can help cut the plants are over, there’s still one more opportunity to contribute to the harvest this weekend.
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, participants can help create 2-inch lavender bundles from the thousands of stalks that have been cut the past month. The farm will provide most of what attendees will need, such as twine, but Kent recommended that people wear closed-toed shoes and bring their own water and food. She also warned that parking is limited to around 40 spots, which are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The lavender varieties that can be harvested at the farm are Grosso, which is known for its strong fragrance and high essential-oil production; Grappenhall, which is typically used in craft projects; and Hidcote, which is culinary-grade and can be used in food.
Each summer yields over 200 lavender bundles on average, Kent said. She originally had a lavender boutique for many years on the farm, where she would sell lavender eye pillows, salts, lotions and soaps, but the store has since closed. She now focuses mainly on making lavender sachets, which are little cloth bags filled with the flower’s buds, and she has more lavender than she knows what to do with.
This means that each participant that shows up on Saturday can expect to be sent home with a few free bundles of the plant, which Kent said can be used to make many different things, such as crafts, desserts, calming medicines, bug spray, body scrubs and even aromatherapy oil.
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