There’s something magical about this lavender farm that remains with you long after visiting its fields…fragrances that stay permanently etched in your memory and senses, released by a cup of tea with lavender honey.

Lavender fields, bee hives, honey…heaven.

If you drive north of San Francisco, past the quaint town of Petaluma and alongside green fields, a slightly winding road guides you to a lavender farm in Sebastopol called Monte-Bellaria di California. This relaxing place combines the familiarity of Wine Country with the spirit of a Mediterranean lavender field. In addition to harvesting lavender and producing honey, this serene land contains an olive grove. A truly Mediterranean space, the olive oil production was a vision of Dr. Bill MacElroy, Monte-Bellaria’s owner. Although the majority of the land is taken by fields of lavender, the farm yields a small but flavorful production of extra-virgin olive oil.

I visit this farm yearly for Sonoma County’s Farm Trails weekend, when farms, creameries, and nurseries open their doors to the public. While I highly recommend visiting during Farm Trails, there is something magical about this farm during the months of high bloom season, from August to October. When I visited in late August, the fields had relaxed from their vibrant purple color; however, they were the most fragrant. It’s a subtle fragrance, the kind that hints and reminds you that every few feet, if you lean a bit in and allow yourself to be vulnerable, you’ll be rewarded.

One of my favorite things about visiting Monte-Bellaria is the guided tour. Eric Sias, the Farm Manager and resident Beekeeper leads the tour. He loves his bees and takes great pride in tending to the farm and the bee hives. I truly believe his dedication manifests itself in the quality of Monte-Bellaria’s honey. This was probably my third tour over the years, and I still learned something new about a bee’s individual role in the colony. Eric also talked about the lavender plants in the field and the harvesting process. It is well worth the $5.

Learning about bees might change your life. It certainly changed mine. The concept of work ethic took on a completely different meaning. Bees fly thousands of miles to produce a jar of honey. When I learned this, sitting at my desk to write—one of my passions and goals—seemed a small sacrifice of time. Finding an hour each day to exercise also seemed a small task. The bees at Monte-Bellaria most affected me, however, by their dedication to each other. Their survival as a colony depends on each bee doing a job to preserve it. They have a purpose in their lives, and this dedication fuels them. And the queen…oh the queen, the lady of the hive…if she isn’t happy, the colony suffers. She teaches me one great lesson that nobody has succeeded to do: how to be confident. Nature is designed to exist as is. Animals operate from instinct, and her instinct is to be powerful. When times are tough for me, I tell myself “be like the Queen Bee.” Her mere existence is confidence. Everything falls into place from that.

After the brief tour, I escaped to the top of the fields. There weren’t many visitors around me, and with so much land, it was the perfect time to absorb the field. A slight incline up the path and there was everything: rows of lavender moving together in the breeze, bees left alone to graze, gekkos, and Sonoma's mountains sitting under clear sky. I bent down every now and then to catch the lavender scent in the breeze. I stayed a long time standing and staring, letting nature heal me, and not bothering it at all.

Relaxed, I made my way to the gift shop, where I found the owner, Dr. Bill MacElroy, sitting peacefully on the bench outside the shop. He kindly answered my questions about the lavender and the delicious recipes one can make with culinary lavender. *See the website below for these amazing recipes.

I cannot begin to express how much joy this little shop brought me when I walked in. It had the coziness of a country farm store with the decoration of a little boutique filled with lavender satchels. I blissfully wandered in a few square feet of space over and over, eyes darting from bottles of facial hydrosol, culinary lavender buds, floral soaps, and jars and jars of lavender flecked honey. One of each, please! I experience the farm every day with my night time ritual: relaxing music and citrus-lavender tea with honey.

Two thoughts, Friends: Bees can teach you how to be a better version of yourself, and, you don’t have to travel to Europe to experience the Mediterranean. A piece of it exists in Wine Country.

Please note: the online store, and tour information, including Holidays Along The Farm Trails, can all be found on their beautiful website, https://www.monte-bellaria.com .