Evening Light Lavender Farm — Attraction in Deer Park

I have gone every year for three years now and have identified a few frustrating themes of this event that don’t seem to be getting better and have made me not want to come back in the coming years. There are a lot of kids working this event, and although I think it’s great that they do that, the adults supervising them aren’t always kind and helpful. There was an issue with a young lady counting my change and not calculating it right. She had an adult standing right there as I was trying to help the girl to understand she was giving me the wrong change. The young girl was insistent that she was right and with an adult standing right next to her, I turned to them for help and nothing. The adult didn’t intervene or help and seemed more annoyed that I didn’t just let them keep my change. The food counter was also the same experience and the adults helping seemed annoyed anytime their was an issue that needed help or addressing. Their systems have “gone down” or had an issue every year I’ve gone. Both at the u-pick counter and the food counter. The result has always been the same; I have my lavender or food and can’t check out because their system was down and couldn’t check me out. This year I had my 4 year old with me who was melting down (literally and figuratively- he was hot and tired and his face paint was dripping down his face), and I was just trying to check out with two small bundles of lavender- smaller than their smallest cutout. I waited a long time and wasn’t allowed to take them and they asked me to come back. With a child throwing a fit and me at the end of my rope, I wasn’t coming back for that. I appreciated that they attempted to add things for kids this year, but the kids area wasn’t contained and my toddler just wanted to run everywhere to all the different things. It was a miracle I even got my lavender picked without losing my kid and to have to leave it because of their systems down….again…for the third year in a row; I was hot, tired, and my son and I both left crying and frustrated. Likely won’t be...

I’ll start off by saying I’m the first to always support local even if that means paying a little extra. That being said, this will sadly be our last year at this lavender festival. It has unfortunately became a huge money grab. $12 entry fee for NO reason. You still have to pay to pick, eat/drink etc. You should be enticing people to purchase your products, not charging them to look. Other farms use their “entry free” as a credit for picking or purchasing products. I got an extremely watered down lavender lemonade which appeared to be scooped out of unrefrigerated barrels with ice. I also ordered scones and was extremely disappointed. They tasted and looked like Pillsbury biscuit dough out of a can. They came in ziploc sandwich bag. The true reason I ordered scones was for the Devonshire cream. Only to of course be disappointed to find it was more like honey- vanilla Greek yogurt. I have added a comparison photo of REAL Devonshire clotted cream vs what they gave out at the venue. Not to mention the amount of “cream” given would not be appropriate for 6 mini scones. They had a handful of vendors with typical things (metal art, cutting boards, quilted/sewing items, chunky gem jewelry, DIY items etc). I absolutely cringe to think of the price those poor vendors had to pay just to set up shop there and be roasted in that dry heat. Someone else posed the price of U-pick lavender, $30 for a large bundle is absurd. You can get several of your own lavender plants for that price. I absolutely hate giving a bad review on a local farm but this has become a hoity-toity hotspot for tourists. If you need fresh lavender or lavender products, their shop is open and FREE to enter when the festival is over. Overall- Lovely products but skip...

Went for the 2022 U-pick festival, did not expect to have religious music blasting at top volume while we were out in the fields picking our bundles of lavender to take home.

The lavender plants were beautiful, I missed any signs saying what types they were though. The landscaping was gorgeous and the willow tree at the foot of the hill was a fantastic backdrop to some family photos.

With some of the staff raising their hands up to the sky during what appeared to be some moving parts to the songs it made it awkward. Maybe let people know that is going to be the vibe, because not everyone wants to participate in someone's religious moments.

*Edit to respond to the owner who kindly provided feedback - I appreciate the response back, thank you. For brevity in describing the experience what I did highlight was a combination of the songs and the staff members who was caught up in their moment. What was not included was that several of the staff members were wearing religious retreat t-shirts or the vendor booth selling handmade crosses with scriptures written on them which was unavoidably parked in front of the tents to buy admission to the event. As these were the first things we walked into this lent greatly to the impression that we were now attending a more spiritual event we were not expecting or wanting to attend that day.

We can see your business focuses on presentation, the place is quite beautiful. I hope the above helps in other aspects in providing the welcoming environment you are...