Southwest Lavender Conference was great

We just returned from the beautiful hill country of Central Texas where Joe, Molly Brown and I attended the Southwest Lavender Conference in Kerrville.  It was worth driving down there in February and I have to say the roads were in better condition than we could hope for.  We drove south on Hwy 550 through snowy Silverton and then onto Albuquerque.

Joe and I in front of Silverton Visitor Center

We drove into west Texas where it was 90 degrees and sunny in Fort Stockton.  What a treat in the middle of winter!  Finally arrived in Kerrville and happy to be staying at one of the most beautiful and unique hotels we have ever seen.  The Y O Resort is one of a kind hotel.  The staff was wonderful and Molly gave it a "paws-up" for good grass and great walking paths.

In front of the Y.O. Resort in Kerrville, Texas

The Y.O. Resort lobby

Chelita Riley, president of the Texas Lavender Association and Cathy Slaughter of Gabriel Valley Farms organized the event and by all accounts was very successful.  I met people from Texas, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Nebraska, Maryland, Puerto Rico and Brazil!  There were quite a few new lavender farmers in attendance as well which is very encouraging.  It looks like lavender is where vineyards were 20 years ago. 

We toured several very scenic attractions in the area including the first olive farm in Texas where I bought several bottles of olive oil and olives.  It was market research right?  Speaking of market research, I also bought chocolate lavender bark and Herbs de Tejas from Imagine Lavender and lavender-earl grey tea from Wild Springs Tea.  I wonder if I can write these items off as business expenses?    We also went to M & J Lavender farm and Becker Vineyards.  Lunch was at the amazing Trattoria Lisina.  

The speakers and forums were very informative and I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend.  I met Sarah Bader from Lavender at Stonegate in W. Linn, Oregon.  She has been a mentor and good force in the lavender industry for years and we are thrilled to have her as our keynote speaker at the upcoming Colorado Lavender Festival here in Western Colorado in July.  Check out our website for more festival details at www.coloradolavender.org.  

We are glad to be back home in Colorado though.  Spring is just around the corner and its time to start planning gardening and home improvement projects.   Next time we'll talk about spring clean up in the garden and the right time to cut back shrubs, grasses and perennials.