We are now in the midst of our LAVENDER SEASON EVENTS of food tastings, painting days, aromatherapy massages and tours.

The LAVENDER FESTIVAL with food tastings, tours (£4 - buy a ticket on the day), tea tent, burger barbecue and plant sales take place over the first two weekends in July - 3rd/4th and 10th/11th. There is no entrance fee, just a small car parking charge to cover some of our expenses of putting on the event - cars £2, motorbikes £1.

In addition there are still a few places left for our fabulous AROMATHERAPY MASSAGES on Sat 3rd, Sun 4th, Thurs 8th, Fri 9th, Sat 10th and Sun 11th July. The massage couches are in between the rows of lavender so you can enjoy the calming scent while being massaged with our pure Kentish Lavender Oil. The appointments are for 30 minutes and cost £30. Please telephone to book or ask in the shop.

As well as the Lavender Festival tours, there are open tours of the fields and distillery on Friday 16th July at 10.30am and Wednesday 21st July at 2pm. Cost £5 per person. Please telephone to reserve a place.

This year's LAVENDER ART DAY is on Tuesday 13th July. Come and enjoy drawing or painting in the fields, with a marquee for shelter if necessary, and be treated to a LAVENDER LUNCH with a spectacular view. Please note, no tuition is provided. Tickets £40 per person. Pre-booking required.

Alternatively, come to a memorable LAVENDER LUNCH DAY on Wednesday 14th July, with a tour, a lunch in the fields, a talk by our bee-keeper and a workshop making a wreath of fresh-cut lavender. Tickets £75 per person. Please note, this event has been completely sold out for the past two years so do not delay with your booking.

Fresh-picked KENTISH CHERRIES are available NOW. (Any that you see being sold in lay-bys before the end of June will have been imported Spanish or Turkish ones!)

The BBC programme 'Grow Your Own Drugs', which was broadcast last year, has inundated us with enquiries and orders for our hops and lavender to make sleep pillows. Hops have always had a reputation for their soporific qualities and lavender is also valued as a relaxant so the combination of the two ought to have significant effect! Our 'Sleep Pillow Mix' (£15.00) of hop and lavender flowers can be put into an old pillow-case and used as a pad on top of your normal pillow. And it can be supplemented with our unique 'Sleepy Scent'(£6.75) and 'Sleepy Balm' (£5.50) which are made from the essential oils of hops and lavender. We have had many satisfied customers telling us how much better they have slept since trying the products. To order, telephone us on 01959 523219. Or order on-line by going into Lavender, Mail Order Shopping, Lavender Gifts and then scrolling down the list of products. WE ARE CURRENTLY IN DISCUSSION WITH THE MEDICAL PROFESSION TO DEVISE A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CUSTOMERS WITH SLEEP PROBLEMS, SO THAT WE CAN RECORD THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OUR PRODUCTS - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE, PLEASE LET US KNOW.

NATIONAL AWARD. We are delighted to have won the prestigeous competition for the Farmers' Weekly 'Diversification Farmer of the Year'. The award recognised all the enterprises we have developed over the past 20 years - the lavender, hops, dried flowers, beef and apples as well as the landscape and conservation schemes. And there are always more ideas in the pipeline!

THE HOP SHOP is somewhere that has always had a special atmosphere and these days we feel it is even more important to ensure that when people visit us they have a very different experience to the High Street. So come and take advantage of the easy parking and the unhurried atmosphere and take time to enjoy shopping here. REMEMBER - WE ARE OPEN EVERY DAY 10.00am - 5.00pm, including Bank Holidays.