Tea and cake at Hitchin Lavender Fields - perfect for kids!

My daughter picking lavender last year

I wanted to show my mother in law and sister in law how charming the English countryside could be and decided to take them to Hitchin lavender fields yesterday.

I usually write about wild plants here at Love Wild Plants: the kind that pop up in forgotten corners, hedgerows, and fields. But sometimes, cultivated spaces like Hitchin Lavender Farm offer moments of genuine plant connection too.

I know it’s not wild but …

Lavender isn’t native to the UK but was likely introduced by the Romans (it’s a Mediterranean plant). It has long been used for healing, sleep, and protection; from ancient Roman baths to the herbs scattered on cottage floors.

I wouldn’t usually write about farms as my goal with this website is to nurture a love of wild plants specifically. However, places that get people outside and in nature are to be celebrated. And especially kids. If they get used to picking things themselves perhaps foraging and other ways of interacting with wild plants might become plausible.

Details about our trip to Hitchin Lavender Fields

We had a wonderful time. I have previously visited to pick the lavender but we only had a couple of hours in the late afternoon so decided just to go for tea and cake.

As we arrived and parked, the scent of lavender wafted towards us and the beautiful hues of blue from the fields were unmissable. We could also see the sunflowers in the distance.

It’s a wonderful venue for kids because the outdoor seating area in the cafe overlooks the playground so you can literally sip tea and eat cake while watching your little ones play.

We had three of the most delicious cakes between us - rose and pistachio, lemon and lavender and raspberry and lavender. There is also lavender flavoured tea of course - I had the earl grey lavender tea but my sister in law had the lemon and lavender which I tasted and preferred actually.

It was such a lovely day - beautiful weather. And I was pleased that a big tent cover has been put up over the outdoor seating area this year so creating a bit of shade as you watch the kids play.

You order the tea and cake from a converted barn which had a lovely little shop with lots of very tempting scented candles and other lavender based products. My sister in law kindly treated me to a lavender diffuser which I’m really excited about. I love making my house smell beautiful.

The barn itself is so picturesque that it makes me want to go back in winter to sit inside and have a cup of tea. In all honestly, it actually makes me want to relocate and live somewhere like that. I have a huge thing for beautiful old buildings and have a fantasy of living in an old house in France with lots of wild land around me where I can hold wild plant talks.

I love how the lavender is suspended from the ceiling here. I may try to recreate a similar look in my house as I have a gorgeous old stick I found in the woods I’ve been hoping to use somewhere as decoration. Ill of course use wild plants- like queen Anne’s lace, teasel or wild grasses.

Attending the farm is such a sensory delight and also reminds me of how important it is to awaken all our senses in the ways we engage with plants - whether they be wild or cultivated. I love showing people how different plants smell or taste, especially when it’s unexpected.

Also, being a farm - it is of course wild round the edges so I naturally spotted some elderberries growing on a tree (far from chemicals!)! I very excitedly took a handful and am freezing it until I find more so I can make some elderberry syrup later in the year.

So I’m looking forward to my house smelling nicely of lavender and also making my elderberry syrup later in the year.

I highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area. They are open fairly late over the summer (til 9pm on a aThursday) and also have a cinema running too.

Possibilities for rewilding

I’m left with the question of what sort of similar places could emerge around rewilded locations. Knepp has a similar café in Sussex (though without the play area). You can read my blog on the trip I took there here.

In future I hope people engaging with nature could extend to locations which have been rewilded - encouraging people to feel invested in ecosystem recovery as well as to learn the heritage of the wonderful plants that live there.

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