Chili cook off in San miguel

All the Lavendar farmers arrived in San Miguel today along wih Nick Hamblin of Galeria 6 inozos to get the booth designed and ready for tomorrows great festivities at the biggest fund raiser of the year. An expected 2500 people from across the country will turn out to taste the best margaritas, chili, and more.
And you can bet your boots there will be a bunch of boot-scooting cow boys and cowgirls all over town for the next few days...YAHOO MEXICO!

Now Revolution! in Pozos

It was a happening at Nick Hamblen's Galeria 6 Saturday when scores of people flooded the gallery

to see five San Miguel contemporary artists present their versions of NOW Revolution!

The quality of art in this show is incredible, the energy of the viewers and participants quite the buzz!

It was a wonderful day for Pozos. Every store and tienda was busy. The restaurants were packed. People were eating pastries in the jardin, rather than standing in line at the cafes. The ice cream man was running out of ice cream. All the vendors were selling.

Thank you Nick!

Thank you, Manrey!

And thank you the artists of Now Revolution!

If you haven't seen this exhibit, take the time to go to Pozos and visit Galeria 6. It is so worth the drive. And while you are in Pozos, stop by and visit LavenDar Farms and have some fun with us!

Calling All Chefs

We have signed up to be a sponser for the San Miguel Chili Cook Off, an event in January which brings over 2500 visitors to town to participate in competition for the best margaritas, chilis and more.
All Donations go to charity and it is a wonderful fun event for everyone concerned, so plan to be there.
Mark your calenders for January 29, come early, and stop by our tent!
But in the mean time, we need help. We want to create a great Lavendar-Chili rub for meats and chicken! yummmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Call, write, phone your ideas. We are looking for all the help we can get.
We only have a month or so to get this together with all the holidays in the foreground.
so, call , write or email dar.burleson@gmail.com with your best idea....a free week-end at Lavendar Ranch is yours if we use it!

Rain, Wonderful Rain

It rained most of the night and continues to sprinkle this morning,cleaning the dry desert air. It is beginning to get cold at the ranch, the fireplaces are already on. We have been harvesting the english lavender this week. Javier and Antonio have been cutting daily and hanging the bunches to dry. We are trying to get as much cut before winter arrives and slows the growing cycle, something I am so looking forward to. Life on the farm has been much harder than I ever dreamed, especially being from a city of bright lights, and constant entertainment.
Here we talk about chickens, goats, burros, horses and of course LAVENDER, and what it takes to keep it all going. Most of the time I wonder, OMG, what have you done?
And then I look around at the ongoing beauty, the mountains, the soon to be 9000 lavender plants, The arroyos, the animals and the infinity views.
Maybe LavendarFarms was the right decision after all.
Come see for yourself!

Suspicious Characters

There must have been a red alert at Houston Intercontinental this morning. I have never seen so many nervous guards in all my years of traveling to, from or through there.
After traveling all night from Argentina, both Cynthia and I were a bit groggy upon arrival, but soon noticed something was different as we were hustled from one area to the next before going through customs yet one more time.
Soon we arrived to the very loud and firm sounds of "jackets off, shoes off , all jewels in the box, belts off, hurry up, computers out of your cases, speed along."
Such command and authority, I thought to myself as I hurried as fast as I could. Nobody was in line but a bunch of old geezers, myself included and they were patting down every other one. And one really old lady.

Then it was my turn to walk through. Ding, ding, ding!
after patting me Down, that wasn't good enough so I got to experience The big new machine, hands overhead, feet spread, the cylinder closes and right there in front of everyone I got a high tech strip search!
Pretty interesting I must say, but my advice for the day is Get your botox before going through IAH this week!

Olive Harvesting Yum!

Olive harvesting began this week with Cynthia deep into Brine School 101. As most things at the ranch at their essence are simple--like brown chickens lay brown eggs--now the mystery of green and black olives is about to be announced. Ready? Time's up. They come from the same tree, the only difference is in the ripeness. Now, in addition to the lavender field tours, we have the hands-on olive picking tour. Another simply amazing fact is that to test the salinity of your salt and water mixture for the brine, place an egg (still in its shell) into the water. If your egg floats, brine it! Voila. In a busy world, these basic pleasures are wonderful to explore and share.

Big Juan

Well today he came! The biggest, fanciest cock of the walk I have ever seen, completely attached with a plume of giant orange feathers. A sight to be seen on this Bicentennial day, September 16, 2010!
The girls ran as fast as they could, all ten of them, to see whom would soon be his favorite.
We have decided to call him Big Juan, the Cartel King.
Now, after a week with no eggs, maybe the girls will begin to produce again.