My New Favourite Place…

I think I found my new favourite place yesterday… there was a field of fresh lavender, a wild flower meadow and the most delicious homemade cakes ever! The New Forest Lavender Farm was all I had ever dreamed of and more, and I can’t wait to go back.

After a beautiful morning spent up the allotment we headed off in the campervan to find the Lavender Farm, which luckily was only about a 20 minute drive away in Landford, Salisbury. The car park was absolutely packed and as soon as we found a spot and entered the farm through the little picket gate I found out why it was so busy. It’s like they had picked all the most prettiest things from my dreams and put them all in one place!

There was a lavender hedge either side of a pathway which led up to the cafe, along the way you can spot tables and chairs hidden away in the most beautiful secret locations. The garden which surrounds the cafe is filled with lots of beautiful flowers, all in bloom and buzzing with bees. Then you turn the corner and the scent of lavender is overpowering! The farm isn’t very big but the sight and smell is amazing, there’s even a patch with 5 rows of lavender you can walk around before entering the wild flower meadow.

I could have stayed here, sitting in the wild flower meadow all day, toying with the idea of ripping up the allotment and covering it with wild flower seeds instead! There was a little mown pathway and chairs dotted around the flowers, with the odd little mushroom sculpture poking out of the flowers. After a very slow walk round we headed back to the cafe, chose a table in the corner of the porch overlooking the lavender and wild flowers and then came the decision of which cake to have. I want to go back just for the cake alone! They were delicious! I had a lemon and elderflower sponge, my Mum had an apricot and lavender sponge and my Dad had a date and walnut. They also had a little gift shop selling lavender falvoured jams, jellies, tea bags, soaps, lotions etc aswell as large bundles of dried lavender.

Before leaving we decided to have a look around the onsite garden centre and by chance, found a small vegetable patch hidden away. The garden centre was brimming with lots of beautiful flowers and herbs, and I even found a cosmos that smelt like chocolate! We left empty handed but made a note to come back for sure. I can’t believe this place is only 20 minutes away and we had never been before! It was the most perfect place to spend a Sunday afternoon, sipping tea in a beautiful location surrounded by flowers with the smell of lavender in the air… absolute bliss.