A delightful day of lavender dreams

“As Rosemary is to the spirit, so is lavender to the soul” – Anonymous. 

It is currently British summertime and the spirits are higher than the highest skyscrapers. Lavender fields have also breathtakingly blossomed and so off I went… not to Provence in France, but to a pretty village of Shoreham in North Kent to feast on the lavender at an award winning family farm tactfully located in the garden of England.

Castlefarm is owned by the Alexander family who have been farming in Kent Darren Valley since 1982 after James Alexander brought down 17 milking cows on a train from Ayrshire in Scotland. Their lavender business started in 1988 and was aimed at producing essential oils, it has now become the largest lavender farm in the UK, growing over 130 acres of the purple fragrant flower. The lavender at Castlefarm starts to bloom in late June and gets harvested for its precious oils in late July, right before its season is over in August.

Getting There!!

The farm is less than 45 mins away by train from London bridge station to Sevenoaks Station, where one can hop into a taxi to the farm in Shoreham. Another option is to drive there since they offer free parking. Unbeknown to me or rather let’s blame it on the excitement, it totally slipped my mind that there are no taxis from Shoreham station. I dashed there only to find zero taxis around the village, how disappointing!! I decided to  follow other travelers out of the station hoping that they too were going to the farm. To my surprise, they were not going there and I then learnt from one of the locals that the farm was not a stone’s throw away, but a 30 minutes walk to be precise. One of the locals widely-eyedly stared at my dainty outfit, fancy sandals, neatly packed picnic basket in hand and warningly said “you might take a little longer in those shoes” . I just smiled and proceeded to ask for directions knowing that there was no going back after making it this far so I continued with my walk. I came across some more local folks and exchanged pleasantries. One of them, a lovely lady by the name of Jill, kindly offered me a lift which I gladly accepted ,leaped into her car and she drove off as we chatted away. She told me she has lived in this quaint village for over 25 years and that it normally gets busy on weekends with Londoners coming in and out. 

What to expect!!

There are various options for one to pick from and experience in the lavender fields.

1.Drive through shop. 

If you are driving and not keen on walking in the filelds but want to buy lavender, it’s products and other different farm produce, then the drive through shop is ideal. You can see the lavender fields from the comfort of your car

2. Lavender Walk 

For just £4,25 you can enjoy a 40 minute stroll in  the iconic lavender field covered by the deep purple “ Folgate Lavender

3. Lavender picnic!

For £11, I booked the lavender picnic which includes a walk and a picnic for 2 hours. I arrived just in time for my 3 pm slot and proceeded to the shop to buy some lavender goodies for my solo picnic.I bought some yummy looking lavender scones , Gin, lemonade and of course lavender plant as a souvenir for my day trip.

There after, I laid down my picnic, sipped on my mouth watering drink  and inhaled the divine scent of the ladybird lavender, a new variety which has been propagated and selected by Castlefarm. 

After wrapping up my picnic, I took a stroll in the field that has 80000 lavender plants. There were people at the top of the magnificent view of the valley, strolling as well, stopping here and there for a picture moment.

We were all lively and bubbly as we took in the ambiance. I ran into some lovely Asian ladies who like me were very much eager to take pictures for memory sake. I was riding solo and these ladies and other people were kind enough to take photos of me while I put my tripod to rest.

Our memorable time came to an end. I packed away my picnic basket and all I could think of was how to get back to the station. I had now become a damsel in distress and so I sought advice from one of the parking assistants who the recommended using Uber as drivers do fetch people from the farm.

Whilst waiting for my uber to arrive, I coincidentally met another blogger, Izabela who had come all the way from Bournemouth .

I was taken aback and it dawned on me that one has to do more of  what makes them happy, come rain or shine . No holding back. You should probably know that at this time my phones battery had died on me and my new friend was struggling to get a cellphone reception , We kept each other company, as we patiently waited for the Uber to eventually arrive and take us back to the station to make our connection to London. 

After jumping into the train, I gazed through the window and smiled ear to ear. My solo day trip to Kent was everything I had anticipated, I beamed with gratitude. As Paulo Coelho said “when you want something, all the universe conspires to make it happen “.