I went to a tea party here! The grounds are lovely and we were able to go out and pick lavender as…read morepart of the ticket price for the tea party. The owner of the farm told us about the farm and how they ended up adding lavender to the business at a way to have a revenue stream. They had many items for sale that contained lavender. There were a lot of us there as we came in a group and they accommodated us very well. It was extremely hot on this day, about 90° with not much breeze. We all managed though. I have been to a lot of tea parties and sometimes the food that you get in the tiers is not all that great but the food on this day was really delicious. They had a framed card on the table that told what was included in each tear and they set the three tiered container down in front of four of us and there were four of each of the items so everybody got to try everything. On the bottom tier today they had chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, cucumber and strawberry on white bread, and roast beef on a French baguette, along side of this tier they included a goat cheese spread and horseradish. The middle tier included a lavender scone, a lavender biscotti, and lavender pear bread. My favorite was the pear bread. It was so moist and very delicious and you really got the pear. The top tier included lavender shortbread cookies, lavender fudge, and a lavender blackberry cheesecake. My favorite on this tier was the fudge, it was delicious and super soft and very chocolatey. There were a couple of different teas offered. The hot tea was a Darjeeling and lavender tea and the cold tea was an herbal tea and they served this with some lavender kissed sugar cubes. Once we finished our meal and tea then we were free to walk about the lavender garden, and they showed us how to cut the stems and gave us a basket and scissors. There were two sides to the garden with one side being the more fragrant lavender stems that they used to make their oils and then the other garden was more the culinary variety. There were both white and purple lavender stems. They also offer other options when you get your ticket, you can choose to make a wreath or a painting, but on this occasion, I just chose to cut some stems and bring them home to dry. It would have been more enjoyable if it had not been so darn hot, but no one can control the weather, especially in the Midwest. I had a lovely time and would definitely go back to do it again.

Spent a lovely couple of hours at Bayer Farm's Lavender Fields during the farm's U Pick season…read more(late May through mid July). The farm is located down a pretty, winding road near the Brianza Winery. With your $12 ticket, you can pick bunches of lavender from two different areas - one offers a variety of culinary lavenders (sweet, floral, herbaceous) and the other is comprised of regular lavender, which is used in oils, decor and landscaping. You receive a basket, scissors and instructions on how to cut the lavender when you arrive. There's easy parking on grass right by the fields. When you are done gathering your lavender, the friendly staff wraps it up for you in lovely lilac paper to take home. The fields are not very big but they are pretty and there are purple Adirondack chairs in the rows begging to be in pictures. Lavender scented goods are available for sale -- I picked up some lotion and jam. Visitors are welcome to enjoy a picnic on the grounds, which I did with my friend after we'd gathered our lavender. This was a nice way to spend a few hours with a friend.