OPG Velčić Loredana
People on the island have always been tied to the land. So we too had a piece of garden and some fruit, inherited from a grandmother who spent her whole life digging.
It all started in 2011. My son was unemployed and he came up with the idea of planting lavender. Coincidentally, we planted the purchased seedlings only in January, on the coldest day of the year. The ground was frozen, the bora was whistling. Real amateurs, without any prior knowledge but full of will. Everything indicated that we were completely wrong. We often looked at those small, helpless plants with apprehension. And then it started. New shoots grew and grew. Now it had to be pruned so that it would not bloom in the first year. How? How many centimeters? What? Digging on the internet and tips from Ms. Kučić whoowns a distillery.
The following year the lavender grew, grew, and future flowers started to form little by little. One morning, in late June, my son and I went to see it. We were greeted by an amazing sight. Flowers in full bloom and hundreds of butterflies fluttering around. A fascinating sight of pure beauty. The son exclaimed: ""Uuuuu (now follows the curse), I'm going to turn this into my master's thesis!"" This is how our lavender got its art-inspiring status. And the ""Agricultural Installation"" was created, a master's thesis at the Academy of Applied Arts.
The children grew up, moved away, and my husband and I, in addition to our work, continued to grow lavender. And it was getting prettier and prettier year after year. From the beginning, I was impressed by all those insects that settled there. Small, larger, tiny, insects of various colors and patterns that crawled around, jumped, flew, or simply stood on a stalk or on a flower. Every time I’m there, I first tour the field with a camera and record each new resident. Even today, my friend Vesna often mentions how I made her come with me to watch butterflies at 6 in the morning. But she did not regret it. I want to share that experience with everyone.
Our field is especially beautiful because it stretches stepwise over small plots in a light arc (we call them barbakani). So the blossoming lavender flows like a river. When the harvest is over, family and friends gather. The sun heats and burns, sweat flows, flies swarm around us, bees threaten, shoes fill with soil but nothing can disturb that cheerful atmosphere full of intoxicating scent of lavender and enchanting butterfly flights.
Every year we organize an event. Ladies in white dresses and hats have a tea party (the Lavender Ladies), Fairies Lavender walked the field dressed in felted wool creations made by Vesna, an exhibition of works by painter Vesna Bakić. The melodious voices of the women's klapa Teha were intertwined with the singing of tireless crickets. An experience to remember. I also have a collection of photos of ""Lavender Tattoos"" which is updated from year to year. A glass of good wine has a special charm when it is sipped little by little, at night, in a lavender field.
Vesna Jakić from the association ""Ruta"" is engaged in felting Cres wool and designed a joint souvenir, ""The Scented Pendant"" (a flower made of felted wool and our essential oil). In 2019, we received the ""Croatian Island Product"" award for this product. Our field is not an ordinary field. It is a place of socializing, fun, relaxation, creativity and love.