As part of the annual Watercress Festival in Alresford, the Falconhigh Display Team will take up residence on our lavender fields at the back of Long Barn, where you will be invited to watch bird of prey displays throughout the day. Our lavender fields are the perfect setting for these bird of prey displays and we can’t wait for what will be a really exciting event! Entry is free. See website for more details: www.watercressfestival.org

Our two acres of lavender will be at their height of loveliness, a feast of colour and fragrance, alive with bees and host to a myriad of flora and fauna.

Weather permitting, you can pick your own bunches of fresh lavender in our fields. We will supply scissors and twine - you do the rest! Take your bunch home as a cut flower or hang to dry, to scent your home with the quintessential fragrance of an English summer. (Please be aware that bees are very active in the lavender. If you have a fear of bees or a bee-sting allergy, we recommend you do not pick your own).

Lydia Brownlow demonstrates how to cook with lavender with delicious new recipes exclusively created for Long Barn. Taste your way through a mouth watering and simple-to-prepare selection of savouries, main courses and desserts. Lydia’s passion for food began at home, cooking with her mother. This grew into a career creating wonderful canapés for her catering company in London. She then worked as Assistant Cookery Editor for Good Housekeeping.

with Debbie Joss

This is one of our most popular lavender workshops. Begin the class picking your own lavender in our fields and then enjoy the highly skilled tuition of our local craftswoman Debbie Joss, who will teach you how to make your own lavender wreath. It’s a very relaxing and informative workshop, with Debbie sharing her tips on working with dried flowers and their uses in lotions, potions and posies at home. Your wreath will dry in situ at home and look lovely for years.

WATERCOLOUR PAINTING FOR BEGINNERS

Do you have the urge to paint a picture but haven’t a clue where to start? Come along to a taster day of watercolour painting where local artist and tutor Graham Marsden will give you all the instruction and encouragement you need to paint your first watercolour. Graham will cover the use of watercolours, brush technique, scoping out your first painting and skilfully encourage you into creating your first masterpiece! Join us for an inspiring and very relaxing day painting in the lavender fields (weather permitting) or on the plant terrace.

Please bring a packed lunch or reserve a table in our cafe. All ages welcome but a minimum age of 13 is recommended.

with Colette Somers

Stress is singularly the greatest cause of ill health in our society that leads to tension, insomnia and a variety of stress related illnesses. Controlling it is crucial to your general health and wellbeing. Learn how to use the essential oil of lavender to reduce stress in the home, workplace and life in a natural but effective way with one of the most beautiful and complex oils available to us. Colette qualified from the London School of Aromatherapy (1994) with an advanced diploma in Aromatherapy massage and now runs a variety of VTCT diploma courses at ACE, Winchester.

with Richard Norris

Join our lavender expert Richard Norris for an informative workshop on how to get the best out of lavender growing in your own garden. Richard will cover such key topics as which lavender variety and why? How to space and plant your lavender, feeding and pruning, drying and bunching along with companion planting ideas to suit your own design and taste. These are very popular tutorials which leave you brimming with confidence on how to grow what is often mistakenly thought of as a difficult plant.

with Richard Norris

Richard Norris will again delight the crowds with his fact packed demonstration of the techniques of lavender distillation using a miniature version of the copper alembic still.
Recreating the authentic steam distillation of lavender, this demonstration never fails to be popular with all ages. Learn the traditional method of steam distillation and understand the origins and uses of our favourite plant.