TALGA March 2018 eNews
FIELD DAY AT PASTORIA LAVENDER
The Australian Lavender Grower’s Assoc 2018 Conference & AGM
This coming Friday 23rd March
Contact Treasurer Neville Sargeant email: yellelectllav@bigpond.com
Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show 21st-25th March
New Zealand Lavender Conference “For the Love of Lavender” will be on 24th-26thAugust 2018 in Martinborough, NZ.
MC LAREN VALE LAVENDER
March is a crazy time in SA; known as mad March because so many events are on all at the same time, Festival, Fringe, 500 race, Adelaide Cup, Womad. We also have the best autumn weather anywhere in Australia, beautiful warm, sunny days and cool nights. Just one slight problem at the moment, its sooooooo dry. Not that this is a problem for the grape growers. They need dry, warm weather for the harvest and usually get it too.
Down our way its vintage time and the vineyards are a hive of activity. Gone are the days when grape pickers were engaged bythe 100’s to pick throughout March. It’s a day and night operation these days with machines stripping the bunches off the vines and loaded straight onto trucks or tractors before carting them to the local wineries. Vintage time brings a vibrancy and life to McLaren Vale, with many youngsters from grape regions around the world, helping out and studying wine making. They cram the local
backpackers and fill local shops with chatter and laughter in a hundred different accents.
Two young women from Brazil, on a working holiday approached me for work recently, asking if I had any vacancies for casual work. I explained our harvest was over, however they were delighted when I showed them around my workshop and they left with some essential oil to remind them of their visit. Oh yes, 
lavender is grown in Brazil, very well apparently.
Don’t forget TALGA also has our own lavender essential oil for sale. Available with labels, packaged in 10ml glass bottles. The oils are sourced from TALGA’s
growers exclusively, whose oils are judged the best at the bi-annual Olfactory Oil Competition. Check them out on here.
Don’t forget to contact kpkelly27@gmail.com to let us know how your harvest went.
Enjoy the coming autumn days in your part of the world. Christine Hitchen
LAVENDER COURSE
For further information about a 100hr Lavender Course involving growing, harvesting and its use contact Denise Hodges, Admin. Coordinator, ACS Distance Education, PO Box 292, Nerang, MDG, QLD 4211
E: admin@acs.edu.au Web: www.acs.edu.au
ACS Distance Education are offering TALGA members 10% discount on their on-line courses.
REPORT FROM KELLIE OXENFORD – ALR QLD
A little drop of rain this week may have been too little too late. We must be the only part of Queensland that missed out on the big rain event of the last week. We have pretty much lost all of our commercial plants this year through a combination of dry, age and severe heat. (A fortnight over 40d) But on the bright side we have a new patch ready to go and expect 1000 plants from our friends at Larkmans any day now. If the heat stays away they will be in the ground asap.
So we keep our chin up make a little more oil, plant a few more plants and enjoy telling our customers about this wonderful plant. Sales continue in the Shed Shop. Looking forward to catching up with friends old and new in Melbourne very soon.
JILL & CRAIG ORMSTON, BOYLAND QLD
French Lavender Harvest
As newcomers to the lavender industry, we have planted a mere 100 Grosso plants, but theyare closely watched and much loved! It’s been very humid of late, to say nothing of all the water the storms are bringing, but so far so good…I think! Our goal is to build up our plantstock and perhaps one day have a store here on our small farm, but meanwhile we are going to try our luck at the local markets.
Unfortunately we couldn’t make the mini conference but we are very much looking forward toTasmania in 2019.
FOR SALE
Lavender Harvester
Contact: Koos Hulst (03) 5348 4852 or 0437 747 619. E: koos.hulst@sanae-svcs.com.auPhotos in the December Enews
FOR SALE
Granite Hills Lavender Farm , 99 Barker Road North Harcourt The farm is on 25 acres. Photos in the December Enews. Agent Matt Bowles, DCK Bendigo. Ph 0418509380
FOR SALE
Still. $700. Annie Hepner Ph 0431475143
CLOTH TALGA PATCHES
Now available for purchase for $10 + postage. Most suitable for shirts, caps and vests etc.
To order products phone Neville Sargeant
(03) 59648238 / 0418 998 982 or email Neville atyellelectllav@bigpond.com