Tres Jolie Lavender Farm

Living Our Nevada County Dream

By Christine Eschen, Proprietress

I was born in Minnesota, and my parents grew up on a farm. My mother could hardly wait to get away from the farm and get her education degree. So, we moved to the suburbs of Minneapolis, where my mother was a teacher, and my father was a hard-working cement contractor.

My mother had a cousin, Clarice, and her husband, Ken, who lived in the country and had a farm. We went there quite frequently to visit during my childhood. I loved getting to go out and help collect eggs and look at the chickens. I loved how the earth smelled in the country and how fresh the air was. Uncle Ken even snuck a baby rabbit into the back seat of our car when we were leaving because he knew I wanted it! Boy, did I get scolded when Mom discovered that rabbit in the back seat!!

Those times on the farm were precious to me, and I always dreamed I would someday have my own.

Fast forward to 2013, when my husband Dave and I bought our dream home and 10 acres of property here in Nevada

County on top of this beautiful hill looking straight out at the Sierras! When I stepped out of the car that first day we drove up, I knew I had found my forever place to live.

I have reinvented my professional life several times over the years. I was a Travel Agent for 25 years and then a masseuse in a beautiful spa in the valley, where I fell in love with essential oils and aromatherapy. I loved fitness and taught everything from strength training to aerobics, and now I am formally trained in comprehensive Pilates. I also went back to school and became a Physical Therapist Assistant.

Where am I going with all of this? Put it together, and I guess you have a very interested person in community and agritourism — an idea formed in my head. I love to travel and the idea of having an experience. Somehow, I thought, why not have a lavender farm with a wellness experience?

So, I said to my husband, “Let’s create a lavender farm.” His response to me was, “Let’s not!” Of course, happy wife — happy life, as the saying goes. And eventually, he saw my sense of purpose was so great that he agreed!

In 2016 after doing extensive research and ordering over 700 starter lavender plants from a farm in Sequim, Washington, we planted seven different varieties. Our first small harvest was in 2017, and I was so excited! I love making essential oil, so in 2019 we planted an additional 130 Grosso Lavender plants in our field.

Although we are not traditional vegetable farmers like my Uncle Ken, I feel that connection to the earth and a sense of community I have always longed for. I love that people are excited when they come to the farm and see the beautiful lavender for the first time.

I also have a Pilates studio at the farm where I teach private Pilates sessions. In addition, I help people maintain their mobility and overall strength, improving their quality of life.

As time goes by, I would like to continue to grow here in this beautiful place. We offer private tours, U-pick, special classes, photography shoots, and personal day retreats. In addition to fresh and dried lavender, we offer our own hand-distilled lavender essential oil as well as body butter and lavender lotions. We are open during the bloom season, June/July, by appointment only.

I am so grateful to have found this beautiful community in the foothills. The people here are so welcoming and

Locally grown Lavender and Lavender Products

Open by Appointment in the Bloom Season

June/July/August for U-Cut, Tours and Photography. Available Year Round for Special Events, Classes and Day Retreats!

Also Private Pilates and Small Group Classes in our New Wellness Studio!

Color of the Year Stimulates the Senses

According to a collaborative report. trends forecasting agency WGSN and colors authority Coloro published in April 2021, Digital Lavender was showcased as the color of the year 2023. In this report, Digital Lavender is defined as “a sensorial shade that connects to holistic wellbeing and digital optimism, evoking stability, serenity, and balance”.

Through time, the purples have been associated with spirituality: linked to the crown chakra, they are believed to bring a sense of balance.

All these benefits related to the lavender color come, not surprisingly, from its therapeutic and curative properties.

Aromatherapy has, for many years, been using lavender oil to promote calmness and wellness. It is believed to help in the reduction of stress, anxiety, and possibly even mild pain.

Lavender essential oil possesses many benefits for physical wellness alongside its well-known calming and soothing psychological effects. It can be used to combat pain as well as inflammation. Its function as a pain reliever comes from linalyl acetate and linalool, which are powerful anti-inflammatory components found in many essential oils.

Studies have found aromatherapy using lavender essential oil to be an effective remedy for postoperative pain. Inhaling lavender is also effective for headache relief. Lavender also contains polysaccharides which are known to be potent in treating inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and rheumatism and the pain that comes along with them.

Because of the anti-inflammatory effects of lavender essential oil, it may also help to improve asthma and other inflammatory respiratory issues. A study found that lavender essential oil had a positive impact on respiratory health, helping to relieve allergic inflammation. This also makes it helpful in breaking up coughs and clearing sinuses.

You can also enjoy the anti-inflammatory and healing benefits of lavender essential oil in topical applications. Applying lavender essential oil to the skin may play a role in treating blemishes and easing overall skin inflammation. The antioxidant activity of lavender can help to accelerate wound healing.

By Weedmama.ca

Spotify sent me a song suggestion called “The right to destroy myself” a haunting piece of music. It made me think about that feeling, when we need to fall apart. Those difficult times in our life when we have a crisis of self, a nervous breakdown but that’s exactly what we need. It’s how we evolve. Like the tower card in tarot, we tear down our walls and get back to the foundation to build something better, stronger from a more experienced, wiser place.

Sometimes this is forced upon us by circumstances out of our control, other times we do it to ourselves. Either way is painful, messy and takes great effort and courage to come back again. But come back we do, with resilience coursing through our veins, we’ve survived this dark night of the soul and we know it won’t be our last. Each time we’re stronger, we feel the pulse of everything, this is where great art is born, also where a new part of us is born.

Heal yourself with art

Do not fear the dark places your mind may take you, let it out through art. It doesn’t need likes or to ever be seen to be necessary. Don’t judge it as good or bad, just let all that mess flow out through your pen, or your brush, or your voice, or your instrument, or your body, or your camera, or your food, however which way your turmoil comes to art, let it go freely.

Art is something we all need to create, it’s meaningful, purposeful