Photo Competition Winner!!!

Hi Everyone,

The results of the Photo Competition are finally on the website.  To access them please go to the Photo Gallery at the top of the page. You will see the winning photo, the Top 10 finalists and the “Best Of The Rest” from over 450 entries.  Some of the photos in the Best Of The Rest could have made the top 10 but obviously there are only ten that can go through.  It has been a real marathon trying to get through each and every entry and in the end it was a pretty tough decision - have a look - maybe your photo made it to the gallery.    Well done everybody and thanks for entering.

Best wishes

Brendan and Lorna

November 08

 Hi Everyone,

The Summer of 2008 will be remembered fondly by those who prefer to carry an umbrella and wear woolly jumpers!  On the back of the previous years poor weather we have been speculating on whether our lavender will evolve into a wetland species!  Of course the benefit of the Surrey Downs is that the chalky soil carries the water away and the plants feel that they are in the ideal growing conditions.  It is only the human caretakers that are bothered by the unseasonal weather. We would welcome a bit more sunshine though as this increases the yield of oil from the flower heads.

This year we had plenty of challenges.  Through our constant patrolling we managed to keep on top of the Rosemary Beetles so that overall they had very little impact on our crop – a big thank you to all our junior beetle bottlers who helped out.  It meant that we did not have to resort to using the Soil Association approved spray to control them.  However we will need to start checking the plants again in late March and April as this seems to be when the beetles are most prevalent.

The very hard late frost on the 17^th May damaged our field substantially.   In about 45% of the field the newly emerged flowers were killed which forced the plant to regenerate more shoots that flowered later – albeit not as intensely – which prolonged the season into August.  So it was, in some ways, not such a bad thing and it adds to the ever growing list of things we have learned about farming over the past few years.  If it happens again next year we will hold off booking the one way tickets for Australia that we were thinking about!!

Our product range continues to develop and we are always looking for new ideas.  We have put together some lovely gift combinations and hampers for the gift giving season and we are anticipate that plenty of city professionals will need our organically grown lavender to assist in a good nights sleep!!.  Our plan is to open daily from 10th November through to the 23^rd December.  Of course we are a bit dependent on the weather as usual but since we have invested in a new shelter on the field we hope it will be as good in the cold as it was in the rain this summer.

 We look forward to welcoming you onto our field again soon.

Lorna and Brendan Maye

Rosemary Beetle

Hi and welcome to Mayfield Lavender!
Well, we had been hoping for some lovely early summer sunshine, but it appears we will have to wait a bit longer! Having just completed the hand weeding of the field in mid May, the rain in the last few weeks has been good for our lavender but also great for the weeds promoted re-growth of the dreaded weeds - more weeding coming up I guess!

Sadly, Jack Frost paid a visit the third week of May and about half of the new tender flowerheads of our gorgeous English Lavender Folgate variety perished overnight - just like that! The shoots were only a couple of days old and very tender and although lavender is extremely hardy, a hard frost will damage new shoots. We understand that a second flowering may occur later in the season but we will have to hold our breath in the meantime. For those of you who know the field, the lavender affected is mostly the lavender that you see from the road, so our “purple distraction” may or may not happen!

On the positive side however, we do still have approx 17 of the 25 acres that will flower this year so please do still come and visit us. Our picnic area is also in the middle of the area unaffected by the frost so it’s looking lovely already. We will still have an abundant supply of gorgeous fresh cut lavender bunches which we shall be selling from second/third week of June. We will post exact dates on the website as soon as the lavender is ready for bunching.

Another challenge we are facing is the arrival of unwelcome visitors from abroad - aka ‘The Rosemary Beetle!’ Please see the photo below so you know what to look out for in your garden. In the last week we have started to see the beetle on the lavender flowerheads. This is a pest that has no known predator and which could gradually munch its way through the lavender unless action is taken. We received our certification from the Soil Association at the end of March this year, a process that takes 3 years so while there is an approved organic spray that we could use we are still reluctant to used this unless we really have to. Currently, we are seeking expert advice on how to deal with this pesky beetle and maintain the amazing biodiversity of the field. We are working with our local newspaper to encourage recruits to our “Beetle Busters” campaign (for details see below). Following a request by Radio 4’s Gardening Experts for live rosemary beetles, any collected beetles will be sent to a research centre to find out more about the lifecycle of the beetle.

If you would like any further advice please click here to Contact Us.

Best wishes,

Lorna and Brendan Maye