A Day in the Lavender Fields

Join us for this very special event at Hope Ranch Lavender Farm: flowers, watercolors, festive libations and a beautiful farm-to-table meal in lovely creative company, at the height of lavender season in the beautiful pacific northwest setting of Hood River, Oregon.

This is your invitation to feast, sip, paint and explore with so many local favorites: learn how to explore watercolors and paint a floral project inspired by the surrounding flower fields with Sarah of @TheMintGardener’s instruction, harvest lavender and other native flowers with a lovely you-pick take-home bouquet with Ivy of @hoperanchlavender, enjoy delicious soft IPA’s with Kacie of @kingsanddaughters along with wine and a specialty cocktail as well, and revel in a local and seasonal feast with ingredients found in the forest and on the farm, with a menu handcrafted by Ashley of @ashrod.

Widely known for its exceptional scenery, Ivy’s beautiful pacific northwest property is a perfect little getaway, tucked between Mount Hood, Mount Adams and the rolling fields of Oregon farmland. Hope Ranch Lavender Farm features several types of lavender, which will be in the height of its blooming season, perfect to celebrate the warm sunshine in this PNW summer season.

Join us as we paint, feast, create and wander the aromatic lavender rows during the golden hours of this relaxing afternoon and evening. Come enjoy this creative event of events, and make a mindful choice to pause the everyday and soak in the slow beauty of painting, flowers, and good food and drink.

The Location

Hope Ranch Lavender in Hood River, Oregon is set in the heart of the gorgeous Hood River Valley. Set on 22 acres with double mountain views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams, our lavender field is only a few minutes from downtown Hood River. The vibrant and sprawling fields of lavender and the sweet fragrance in the air are a delightful experience. The 12,000 lavender plants, the snow capped mountains and panoramic landscape provide an exquisite background for this special day. You will be invited to wander the fields and cut your own bundle of lavender to take home. Artists and photographers find Hope Ranch to be a place where natural beauty thrives. We look forward to sharing our beautiful and peaceful farm with you.

The Painting

After this class with Sarah, you will be skilled and knowledgeable, with the new ability to see and recreate the watercolor process, layer by layer.

During our time together, you will learn the techniques Sarah uses for watercolor, and see how she uniquely teaches the foundations of this art as a transferable and mindful skill. Sarah teaches you step-by-step in her brand new book, Watercolor Workbook: Café in Bloom, and once you know how to paint a few flowing washes, that knowledge can be used to paint a fabulous project together from the book. The possibilities are endless with this beautiful art form. Once you work through the foundations together, learn the steps to paint in her new book, together with Sarah. You will work on the pre-drawn template of the project in the book, so no drawing is required; beginner and experience artists alike are welcome!

Sarah’s new Watercolor Workbook, just like her previous two, is filled with watercolor paper inside, making learning to paint on beautiful quality paper that much more enjoyable. The projects in her new book are filled with soft garden scenes, café views, and overflowing with flowers you would see strolling on a carefree weekend jaunt to your favorite neighborhood market. A cup of tea or a perhaps a frothy cappuccino, a grouping of park chairs that transports you to the Luxembourg gardens, Italian inspired villa vistas by the seaside, croissants and candies, bouquets and leisurely afternoons with books, charcuterie boards, and a delightful glass of something cool and refreshing. There is even a lavender and chamomile bouquet featured in her book, absolutely created for an inspired by Ivy’s own Hope Ranch Lavender Farm.

The perfect taste of watercolor wanderlust for us to instantly transport ourselves to a café in bloom where we can enjoy the beauty of watching paint and water sing on our pages! With this class registration, you will receive all of the materials you need to continue to paint at home: Princeton brushes, professional watercolor paints with a curated palette specifically for our lovely event and of course…your own signed copy of Sarah's new Watercolor Workbook. Sarah cannot wait for you to join her; to fall in love with the flowing freedom of watercolor, and the beauty of watching paint and water dance along your pages.

The Libations

Kings & Daughters Brewery will be providing a beautiful, feminine, signature, low ABV Soft IPA featuring artwork by Sarah of @themintgardener. We will have beer and local wine from COR winery available throughout your visit to Hope Ranch Farm, as well as offering a special NA cocktail during happy hour. Expect decadent and festive libations throughout your time wandering and watercoloring at Hope Ranch.

The Food

Enjoy a seasonal feast with ingredients found locally, with a menu artfully handcrafted for this event, based on what is available on and around the farm, forest, field and sea. Ashley believes that through food we can deepen our connection to the earth, to help heal ourselves and this beautiful world we call home. Ashley’s latest cookbook, Rooted Kitchen, offers a fresh way to appreciate nature and the treasures it provides. You’ll walk away from the table, and this experience, full and inspired.

We cannot wait to welcome you to the lavender farm!

Lodging : For our out-of-town and visiting guests, we would recommend the following options -

Washington side: A few other great hotels on the Washington side of the river (just a few minutes drive) -

• The Society Hotel in Bingen, WA. This hotel would be a tremendous treat as it has a spa, soaking tubs and a great little coffee shop on the grounds.
• Another favorite of ours is the Ruby June Inn in Husum, Wa. This one is very intimate with the best owners.

Oregon side: There are a few small hotels in Hood River right downtown, walking distance to all the little shops -

• The Best Western Plus, Hood River. It is right on the Columbia River, it has a fantastic restaurant and bar in the hotel, the rooms have beautiful views and it has a salt water pool and jacuzzi with a view of the river.
• The Hood River Hotel is a good one and has the best breakfast place downstairs from it. Hood River Hotel is near the railroad so the rooms do have complimentary ear plugs if you are a light sleeper but it is a beautiful old building with great character.
• Other things to do in Hood River while you are here is to drive "The Fruit Loop" www.hoodriverfruitloop.com and visit the farms and wineries.

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About Kings & Daughters

Kings & Daughters Brewery is a small brewery owned by husband and wife team, Kyle Larsen and Kacie McMackin. Launched in 2021, Kings & Daughters Brewery has brought a refreshingly feminine array of beers to the craft beer scene. Their year-round Soft IPA, Queens & Sons, was awarded a bronze medal at the World Beer Cup in 2023. Kyle focuses his attention and decades of experience and education on crafting unique, thoughtful beers, while Kacie works as creative director for the brand and is responsible for creating or procuring the beers “cover” artwork.

About Hope Ranch Lavender Farm

In 2009 Mike and Ivy bought an old horse ranch in Hood River, Or. We ultimately dreamed of turning it into a lavender farm. As first generation farmers, we knew little about farming and had a minimal amount of money. We began our farming adventure on Hope Ranch by farming hay and breeding cows for beef. We started a family and tended to our property. We worked hard doing all the work ourselves with babies at our side. In 2019, we began to break ground on our lavender farm dream. It started out smoothly, but in 2020 we lost most of our plants and at the same time Mike was diagnosed with brain cancer. 2020 was a tough year for everyone and especially hard on us at Hope Ranch. We were well supported by our fantastic community who came out to help us farm and feed our family. Since then we have continued our dream on the farm. Our family has had seasons of healing, seasons of cancer recurrence and seasons of joy replanting and getting our lavender business growing. We are determined to see our lavender farm grow and thrive through the tough seasons. We continue to farm our hay fields and we still love raising our beef cows and chickens. Our three children enjoy living and working alongside us on the farm. We are blessed beyond measure and we look forward to sharing the beauty of Hope Ranch with you.

About Sarah, our Artist in Paint:

Artist and author Sarah Simon, a.k.a. @themintgardener, has taught thousands of people to watercolor and with her teaching talents, has made it such an approachable and enjoyable art form, both for the experienced and novice alike. Her Watercolor Workbook series provides everything you need to know about the art of watercolor and has been the #1 best-selling watercolor book series in the world for five years now. Sarah's teaching has received worldwide attention with her online and in-person painting courses and art retreats, where she shares the very best in quality, crafting a lifestyle of slow beauty and intentional choices, one post at a time. Visit https://www.themintgardener.com/links to learn more.

About Ashley, our Artist in Food:

Ashley Rodriguez is a Seattle-based award winning food writer and photographer. She is the author of four books; Date Night In, Let’s Stay In, Rooted Kitchen, and Field Notes from a Forest Guide. She is the host and co-creator of the James Beard nominated series, Kitchen Unnecessary. Ashley is a graduate of Seminary of the Wild through the Center for Wild Spirituality and a certified Nature and Forest Therapy guide. When not eating, or talking and writing about food you can find her foraging, fly fishing, feeding her sourdough starter and spending as much time outside as possible. She believes the outdoors is a place to be fed both physically and spiritually.

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Cancellation Policy: Due to the highly creative and collaborative coordination that events like this require ahead of time, the Hosts cannot offer refunds.

The ticket purchase once made is non-refundable, but should the participant be unable to make the planned event, the participant can gift their ticket to a friend if they cannot make it! The participant can make arrangements, and notify the Host.

However, we understand that 'life happens,' and any cancellation request received due to an extenuating circumstance may be reviewed by the Hosts who in turn will recommend the appropriate action. Extenuating circumstances can be (but not limited to) death in the family, documented positive COVID-19 test etc.

‍If the event is canceled by Hosts, all participants will be extended a full refund of their payments.