The lavender at Santa Rita Hills Lavender Farm is coming into full bloom just in time for the farm’s grand opening, Lucas Neumann said.
Neumann works as the vice president of the Lompoc-based farm alongside his mother, Denise. The pair held a soft-launch for their farm in 2022 with property tours and private events because of the plant’s rapid growth. Now that the lavender has reached full maturity, the Santa Rita Hills Lavender Farm will celebrate its grand opening with a variety of events throughout July.
“This year, in 2023, it will be the lavender in peak bloom, it will be phenomenal as far as color and majesty of the lavender,” Neumann said. “We had a ton of people coming in during the off-season because we have the lavender and the seasonal field always has different flowers in it. Even in the off-season there are still beautiful flowers.”
The farm kicks off its celebration with a ribbon cutting ceremony on July 7; followed by a yoga session hosted by Lompoc’s Bloom Yoga and afternoon tea on July 9; a lavender wreath making classes on July 15 and again on July 23; and a mobile watercolor painting class, in partnership with Art Spot on Wheels, where people will paint in the lavender fields and sip lavender lemonade on July 16, he said.
A farm-to-table dinner will also be held with Santa Ynez Kitchen and Nella Kitchen and Bar on July 22—something Denise has always wanted to do since launching the farm, he said.
“On the 22nd, the lavender should be the height of the color at that point. It’s going to be bright purple,” Neumann said. “We are trying every week to be doing as much work as we can; we’ve been planning the half dozen events we have and also having to plan to go to the lavender festival.”
At the end of the month, a local photographer will come in to do 15-minute shoots with guests in the lavender fields. On July 30, the farm is partnering with a local beekeeper to do honey tastings and showcase different types of honeys along with the lavender honey that will be harvested this year.
He added that he didn’t expect to see the kind of growth and support the farm experienced during its soft opening, but the mother and son duo hopes to gain more traction with the locals rather than just out-of-towners.
“There really seems to be a drought for non-alcoholic events to do, so I think that has been a great benefit for us and having people come and check us out,” Neumann said. “We’re trying to do more local outreach because I feel a large market of locals trying to find something to do.”
The most important thing for guests to understand, he said, is the connection Santa Rita Hills Farm has with nature and the environment.
“The way we do our farm is slightly different [from] other commercial farms,” he said. “We will keep a lot of the lavender on the farm for most of the season to allow the bees to get the nectar of the plant and random lavender will spread throughout the field because when the bees spread the pollen the lavender will spread out.”
The pair also does a lot of seed saving and harvesting to produce more flowers in the future, introduces new wildflowers and takes out the invasive or intrusive plants. They hand pull all of the weeds and replace them with California poppies, lupines, or other native blends, and all of their fertilizers come from animals that are on the farm already, Neumann said.
“It’s how we, as stewards of the land, focus on enriching the environment without being intrusive in any way and can fully appreciate the maximum benefit and majesty without too much interference,” he said.
Visit goldenstateapothecary.com for more details on Santa Rita Hills Farm’s events. Direct inquiries to goldenstateapothecary@gmail.com or call (805) 395-6568.
Highlight:
• Santa Maria Regional Transit’s (SMRT) consolidation of Breeze bus service went into effect July 1. Regional former Breeze Bus Routes 100 and 200 and New Cuyama inter-community bus routes were rebranded as SMRT’s Routes 20 to Los Alamos, Buellton, and Solvang with added service to the Chumash Reservation. Route 30 will continue service to Vandenberg Space Force Base and to the city of Lompoc. Transit service to New Cuyama will now be known as Flex Route 50. The consolidation brings several notable benefits to passengers, including increased transit service, standardized schedules, simplified trip planning, and the introduction of user-friendly trip planning apps. Additionally, while there are no changes to the Regional Route base fares ($2), passengers can now take advantage of SMRT’s discounted multi-ride pass prices, including the $31 unlimited rides for 31 days pass.
Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at toconnor@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Santa Barbara County Fair Guide 2023.
