Dinner in a Lavender Field
Imagine a Summer Day in France
Experience the magic of a Farm to Table NB event at Lavender at Ocean Breeze Farm during peak bloom. Picture yourself enjoying a catered dinner in the heart of a lavender field, reminiscent of a countryside in France. This delightful, delicious day is not to be missed. Mark your calendars for July 20th, 2024, and book your tickets for Dinner in a Lavender Field to secure your seat at this enchanting table. Relive the dream as I did, right in Saint-Édouard-de-Kent, New Brunswick.
Lavender Cocktails & Dreamscape Views
Farm to Table NB’s Dinner in a Lavender Field event is a three-hour journey into a world of culinary delight and natural beauty. It all begins with a refreshing lavender cocktail crafted by Garden Bar NB, enjoyed in the charming, 150-year-old renovated barn at Ocean Breeze Farm. Brie and Honey NB charcuterie boards, brimming with delectable bites, are perfect for grazing or creating a plate to savour at the beautifully adorned, posy-covered tables outside. As we sipped and snacked, we soaked up the warm summer sun and took in the lush, lavender dreamscape views. It was truly divine!
Magical Memorable Moments
Farm to Table NB & Lavender Ocean Breeze hosts welcomed us warmly, inviting us into a serene dreamscape. Our adventure began with a captivating farm tour, culminating in a picturesque scene overlooking a lovely lavender field. Phil Desjardins, a local jazz musician, set the perfect tone with his beautiful melodies as each course arrived, expertly paired with wines from Magnetic Hill Winery. It was a culinary journey to heaven and back. As the sun began to set, we wandered through the lavender fields once more, savouring the peaceful twilight. We departed with hearts full of magical, memorable moments from an unforgettable dinner, having forged new friendships amidst the lavender blooms.
Farm-to-Table NB
Farm-to-Table NB was officially founded in 2021, but its story began in 2016 when Chanelle Belliveau knew she wanted to create an awareness around food and life by sharing experiences that would connect people and community. Chanelle first studied holistic nutrition in 2015 at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition in Moncton, then began to offer cooking classes in her hometown of Saint-André-LeBlanc (Cap-Pelé), when an opportunity presented itself. These classes grew in popularity, and have now expanded into Moncton and Dieppe. At this same time, Chanelle also worked at Ferme Alva in St. Maurice, and while doing so had an awakening that changed her life. She realized that one must not only know how food affects your body, and how it is being prepared, but one must also know where your food comes from. This revelation grounded Chanelle in a deep understanding of the important work that goes into growing food for community. She then channeled her expertise, and experience with her new intuitive eating learnings of listening to your own body, and how food makes you feel (physically, emotionally & spiritually), to create culinary experiences that gathers people around the table with locally-sourced food. And Farm to Table NB was born.
Locally-Sourced Food
Farm to Table NB experiences are deeply grounded in intentionality, locally-sourced food and slow-living. Chanelle offers you a break from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life, in a culinary experience that is all about unwinding and relaxing. Chanelle shared that “there is nothing more satisfying — in the middle of cooking & serving tables — to see people truly enjoying their meal having deep conversations with each other. Witnessing relationships, and memories form is truly why we do what we do.”
Creating experiences that bring like-minded farmers, women change-makers, and small business owners together is also something that Chanelle does well. This was apparent when listening to her read aloud the list of locally-sourced items that made our Dinner in a Lavender Field possible. Chanelle deeply values her team and surrounding community, and shines a light on others saying - it takes a village to do what she does at Farm to Table NB.
Slow-Living for Well-Being
I discovered that Farm to Table NB has a mission “to help the New Brunswick community reconnect with themselves, build relationships with each other, and grow in appreciation for the land they live on.” They do this “through monthly cooking classes and seasonal communal table dinners that focus on community building and they feature locally-sourced ingredients from local farmers & makers.” They also “educate community on the importance of supporting local, eating seasonally, and the value of slow-living for well-being.”
Dinner in a Lavender Field Menu
In case you were wondering, our Dinner in a Lavender Field meal was fabulous. Did you have any doubt? I didn’t. Each course also included a thoughtful wine pairing from Magnetic Hill Winery. Whet your appetite on this description of our amazing 4-course dinner.
- FIRST COURSE: Walnut & Goat Cheese Salad with Lavender Vinaigrette paired with 2019 Osceola White Wine,
- SECOND COURSE: Cucumber & Avocado Gazpacho paired with 2020 Lodestone Rose,
- THIRD COURSE (main): Lamb baked in Lavender Salt with Mustard Greens / Roasted Potato Salad, French Lentil & Spring Vegetables paired with 2020 Marquette Red Wine
- FOURTH COURSE (dessert): Earl Grey & Salted Caramel Brownies paired with Maple Swish Dessert Wine
Follow Your Passion
Chanelle feels Farm-to-Table NB is living proof that “when it comes to your dreams, you are never going to feel truly ready, so start anyway!” She jumped in following her passion with both feet and has never looked back. Chanelle finds herself overwhelmed with gratitude to be able to serve the greater community of NB. As a guest of Dinner in a Lavender Field, I can honestly say it has been an absolute joy to partake in one of these Farm to Table NB experiences, and I highly recommend everyone do the same. I will be following her closely, and hope to join her again.
2024 Update: Chanelle reinvested in her business and continued to grow her skills having just completed a 2-Year Culinary Art Management Program at New Brunswick Community College in Moncton NB. And through it all she continued to offer Farm to Table NB cooking classes and dining experiences. She has an amazing village of supporters by her side always cheering on her latest endeavours and vision for the future. Stay tuned through Chanelle’s Farm to NB Facebook & Instagram pages to discover her latest offerings.
Lavender at Ocean Breeze Farm
The dreamy setting of Dinner in a Lavender Field is the result of 7 years of hard work by owners and lavender farmers: Carly and Paul Boileau. Their lush 4 acres of lavender fields are home to nearly 20,000 plants, and the ocean breeze off of the Northumberland Strait creates a little slice of heaven that they share with the public from July to October.
A Little Piece of Provence
Carly and Paul invite you to come experience what feels like "a little piece of Provence" at Lavender at Ocean Breeze Farm, and spend the day wandering the fields, and checking out their beautiful handcrafted products. They offer a range of bath and body products, essential oils and culinary products — all using their home-grown lavender. They also host special events, parties, and most recently a wedding. Near Christmas they open for a festive holiday event, and their coffee shop will be open, where you will be able to enjoy lavender-infused products.
If They Can Do It There, Perhaps We Can Do It Here
Carly and Paul have owned their property for 26 years, and have been married for 27, but most of that time they spent apart as Carly works for the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) on cycles of 6 months on, and 2 months off. It was in fact the very place they met, and fell in love. Carly laughed, “Barry Manilow wrote a song about us… ‘Her name was Lola.’” Yes, Carly - a formerly London-trained ballerina - was indeed a showgirl, and Paul - a bartender. His gig, unlike Carly’s with RCCL was short-lived, but their love story is a long one. After continuing to travel the world for several years as a RCCL dancer, then later as a cruise director, Carly eventually wanted to find a way to stay at home in New Brunswick longer, and started doing a little research. “I said to Paul, we’ve got this property, why don’t we plant something. Then I did a little bit of research, and found out that the largest lavender farm in North America is actually in Magog Quebec. So I said, “Well, if they can do it there, perhaps we can do it here.””
A Labour of Love
“Of course lavender is a Mediterranean plant, and it is not really meant for New Brunswick - by any stretch of the imagination,” Carly stated. “And we were not farmers, we knew nothing about farming, we literally knew N-O-T-H-I-N-G.” However, that did not stop the duo, so by learning how watching YouTube videos, and using Kijiji to purchase equipment, and adding some brawn and guts, and downright dogged determination, Carly and Paul rolled up their sleeves, and did it all themselves in a labour of love. And they made every mistake possible. “So when I write my book of “How Not to Start a Lavender Farm,” it will be a very best seller, because if there was a mistake to be made - we made it.”
Passion Project
“It was definitely a passion project,” Carly shared, “There have been moments of deep despair, and moments of ‘What have we done?’ then we have moments like this, where the weather is beautiful, and everyone is saying how lovely it is here, and then we look out and we say… Not - “Why did we do it?”, but ‘“ook what we did!”” Carly’s pride is evident. “Every plant that you see was either hand-planted by myself or Paul. This is the first year we had any help at all, so everything you see was done by the two of us.”
They definitely know what they are doing now and they grow several varieties in their fields including: English Lavender, French Lavender, and Munstead. Carly even has her own still that produces the essential oil, that is vital in the production of her soaps, lotions and scrubs. Pop into their shop to see what is new, and follow Lavender at Ocean Breeze Farm on Facebook and Instagram to keep up-to-date on what is happening at the farm. I cannot wait to see what they do next, and I will be back for that lavender latte!
Book your seat at Dinner in a Lavender Field
This post was sponsored by Farm to Table NB & Lavender at Ocean Breeze Farm; however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Follow Maritimes Maven on FaceBook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Threads & X. Subscribe to be the first to receive my latest articles. Share articles you love with your social media community so they, too, will discover, There’s No Place Like Home!