This year has been a real curve ball for all of us personally and professionally. We have all certainly had to learn to pivot with the ever-changing restrictions and guidelines. This year at Indigo we had many BIG BIG plans and additions for the farm. Just as the spring season was approaching the entire world shut down. We began discussing what changes we needed to make without really knowing what the summer would look like. Fast forward to June, after finding out we would be able to move forward with our UPick season, Farm Store and events; we had about 4 weeks to pull off our first “Lavender Daze” weekend as well as finish our retail space.
We hunkered down and worked tirelessly to get the Farm ready for visitors. The grass needed mowing, weeds needed picking, garden needed planting, new trees to be planted and new paths to create to make parking and access to the farm easier. We worked with our local print shop to have signage made throughout the farm to help direct visitors. Many, many hours went into making our retail space what you see today. We contacted our vendors and found new ones, to let them know our event was back up and running and we booked gigs with bands.
We knew we wanted to offer wreath making and lavender wand making as well as have some kids crafts. Our awesome instructors: Lisa from Natures Vintage Marketplace and Sarah from Michigan History Alive came to teach our guests how to make wreaths and lavender wands. Our very own Production Assistant, Mallory (Elementary Art Teacher by day) taught the littles how to make Lavender Fairies and Lavender Buddies at the kids’ craft tent!
Planning a weekend event held on 26 acres requires a lot of fine details. Deciding where to situate vendors to allow the best flow on the property as well as ensure the safety of our visitors and staff were the topic of many conversations. Keeping COVID restrictions in mind; we spaced vendors out at least 6 feet to keep a safe flow for customers and our vendors. We spaced out the picnic tables. The bands were plenty far away from the vendor area to ensure safe viewing and listening. The food truck was away from the vendors as well. We sanitized the Farm Store constantly, took the temperature of our staff daily and all staff wore masks inside and out. 26 acres is a lot of space to spread out which was a huge bonus for us allowing guests to social distance but also meant a lot of walking for visitors. Already on the list for next year is a hay wagon to carry visitors around the farm.
We enlisted volunteers to help drive golf carts for our senior and handicapped friends as well as direct traffic in the parking lots, run the admission tent, etc! We couldn’t have done it without our volunteers! Their help, along with our amazing staff made this first Lavender Daze a huge success. We are so pleased with the vendors who came out, stayed through the weekend and helped us kick off our inaugural year.
Stay tuned for next year…tentative dates July 9-11 2021! Keep Calm and Lavender On!