The Hardest Task In Early Spring Is Assessing Winter Damage, Pruning, and Ripping Out Dead Plants; Oh, and Watching My Arch Nemesis Taunt Me As I Grieve My Hard Work

Yes, my lavender field arch nemesis is taunting me, but more on that later.

Walking into the lavender field as spring begins to blossom is bittersweet. We find our first signs of spring, including new sprigs of green on many of our plants. Yet, we also find MANY dead stems that must be removed in our mostly French lavender, and, worse, we find many plants that looked beautiful in early February that now must be ripped out and replanted. It is a hard reality of farming lavender in South Central Texas.

In the accompanying video you'll see how hard I pruned most of these because when working with French lavender, once a stem is dead it will not produce new growth again. Better to remove it and make way for any sign of life at the base of the plant. This gives the branches that do still have life a chance to breathe and push out new stems...we hope!

We had many plants that needed to be ripped out altogether that we will be replacing with our own propagations. Otherwise, it will be quite an expense to buy more plants from another grower. This year, we will take our chances with propagation. It truly is heartbreaking to have to rip out plants that you have been meticulously pruning and weeding and watering and protecting for a year! However, it is part of the job of a lavender farmer in our neck of the woods. We can only hope and pray that the plants remaining will give us a harvest worth blogging about come summer. To be determined!

To add insult to injury, my lavender field arch nemesis ate another plant just feet away from me as I was pruning. As if to say, I'll hold off on your big plants in front of your face, and, instead, show you how I will suck down a weed plant into the earth never to be seen again. But, just in case you were wondering what had happened to those "you can never kill these" knock-out roses you planted when you first moved here - here's your evidence that I had a little something to do with it. In addition, those baby lavenders that you lost...yes, it was me nibbling on their fresh new roots! Along with the leaf-cutter ants, of course. We often work hand-in-hand to make sure no vegetation sticks around for too long. AND, just in case you weren't sure it was me pulling down that weed, I'll send my cousin over to the next row to actually pop up and give you a clear mug shot!!! [see video]

Phew! When we started this lavender farm, we had no idea what we would discover and encounter. It is a beautiful, difficult task to toil this cursed earth. But, the harvest is far greater a reward than never sowing the first seed. it is a reminder to never give up, no matter how difficult it is to finally get to the fruits of our labor. We do not labor in vain!

"They shall not labor in vain..." - Isaiah 65:23