Lavender in the Village Festival

So today was an event that we have been looking forward to for many weeks now: The Lavender in the Village Festival. We (John, my Mom and I) were volunteering for the Los Poblanos Organics tent selling produce, memberships, t-shirts etc. This is the program that we get our weekly box of fresh fruits and veggies through, I know I've mentioned it before. So when the opportunity came up to volunteer for them, we thought what we usually do when faced with such a decision- why not? We have been trying to fill our time with interesting events so that it goes by faster (7 1/2 weeks and counting!) but that's a different post altogether...

This festival is an annual event, all about the wonders of lavender (plus a few other fun things). There were a lot of interesting tents- lavender crafts, goat cheese, wildlife/bird rescue, yurt living, massage, henna, a beer garden and live music. We also played with, petted and oohd and ahhd over the most amazing, adorable 1-week-old baby goats.

We went an hour before our shift so that we could look around and participate in some of the festivities. Unfortunately we missed out on the free massages, but we did get to pick our own lavender and check out the yurt. For lunch we had bratwurst (made on the premises) with green chile relish. We sampled and bought red chile raspberry jam (unbelievable, tongue-tingling goodness) and lavender honey goat cheese. This was a "special edition" goat cheese, just for the festival. It's safe to say it is the most interesting, delicious goat cheese I have ever had. It was amazing to see little kids, adults, everyone go crazy over the organic fruits and vegetables. Organic does taste better, and it's great to see people being so enthusiastic about it.

We were working alongside of LPO interns all day, including one guy who is studying in Montreal. We mentioned to one of the other interns (who makes beautiful clay honey pots) that we were moving to Budapest but want to intern on the farm in the meantime. (Why not?) As we were leaving this intern said to us "Well, we'll see you on the farm, or if not- have fun in Budapest", which caused the Montreal guy to stop in his tracks, "Wait, what, Budapest? Are you guys Hungarian?" Us: "No but we speak a little" Him: "Oh well, Viszontlatasra!" Us: "...." We were so flabbergasted that we didn't even ask him why on earth he speaks Hungarian (he's from New Jersey) but it was a great/strange end to our day of hard work. Well- to reward you for reading this novel (is anyone still reading?) here's some visual aid:

Some of the beautiful produce we were peddling:


Yours truly, working the cash box!:


Outside of the yurt, plus a very nice solar oven:


Inside of the yurt:


Me, cutting lavender in the field:


My mom, winning over the crowd:


Lots of lavender hanging to dry:


Bunch of lavender:


John cutting himself some lavender:


John replenishing the carrot supply:


A beautiful crow:


Darling baby goat: