Rejuvenating the Soul at Summers Past Farms

Summertime is a season of full sun and lots of playing in the water. All that sun and seawater and riding with the windows down wreaks havoc on my skin. Last night I reached for my little container of lavender hand salve, only to discover that I've scraped to nearly the bottom of the luscious-smelling ointment.

No problem. That means I get to pay a visit to Summers Past Farms, where my friend bought it for my birthday.

The fragrance of Summers Past Farms is enough to send me swooning with memories of grandmother's garden. A barn fans out glorious waves of scents from the herbs and seeds blended together.

In fact, one of the most popular venues that Summers Past Farms has going is the soap-making class.

"The customers get to pick and choose what fragrances they want from the essential oils," Lozier explained.

My companion for the day, 12-year-old Karianne Lindsey, delighted herself in smelling all the oils. "Wow, what is this?" she asked, holding a dropper up to Lozier.

"That's basil. It is one of our customers' favorite oils. That and lime. The two go very well together in fragrance for soaps," Lozier said.

The soaps for sale were like works of art, mini 3-D paintings of beach scenes. "Look, here's Nemo" Lindsay said, holding a bar of soap depicting a clown fish made famous from the "Finding Nemo" movie.

I found the lavender hand salve and held it up to Karianne's nose. She looked up at me with wide eyes. "What's it for?" she asked.

"For keeping my hands smooth so they don't look like crepe paper," I said, and she laughed.

Honestly, a visit to Summers Past Farms will rejuvenate the soul while refreshing old memories of the way things used to be before we all jumped on the freeway. It is a place I hurry to so that I can slow down.

Summers Past Farms is located at 15602 Olde Highway 80 in Flinn Springs. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.