Welcome to our little corner of the Web! We are the family behind Hilltop Herb Farm, eleven acres of rocky hillside that we have slowly turned into herb beds, lavender rows and a drying barn since 1988. Everything we sell we grew, cut, dried or tied ourselves. If you're driving through the hill country on a weekend between now and Halloween, come see us at the stand. If you aren't, read on, and we can send you a box.

Culinary herbs. Thyme (English and lemon), rosemary, sage, oregano, Greek oregano, marjoram, sweet basil, Genovese basil, Thai basil, chives, garlic chives, flat-leaf and curly parsley, cilantro, dill, French tarragon, summer savory, winter savory, lemon balm, and several mints kept in their own bed where they can't take over (they try).

Lavender. Our biggest crop. About 1,400 plants on the south slope, mostly English lavender for sachets and cooking, plus a stand of the taller lavandin types that give the best oil smell and the longest stems for bundles. We cut in late June and July and dry it in the barn on screens.

Everlastings. Flowers that dry well and keep their color: strawflower, statice, globe amaranth, yarrow, celosia, larkspur, nigella (love-in-a-mist) pods, and a good deal of artemisia and sweet Annie for wreath bases. These are what go into our fall wreaths and swags.

Our dried herb blends (2 oz. glass jars, $4.50 each): Kitchen Garden (thyme, oregano, marjoram, savory), Provence Blend (thyme, rosemary, savory, a touch of lavender), Poultry Rub (sage, thyme, marjoram, black pepper), Tea Garden (lemon balm, mint, chamomile, a few lavender buds) and Bouquet Garni bundles tied in cheesecloth, 6 for $5.

Come make your own herb-and-everlasting wreath on the porch of the drying barn. We provide the grapevine base, a big table of dried material (artemisia, sweet Annie, lavender, yarrow, strawflower, statice, globe amaranth, bay, sage), wire, glue guns and all the help you want. You go home with a 14-inch wreath.

• Saturday, October 16, 1999, 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.
• Saturday, October 23, 1999, 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.

$25 per person, all materials included. Cider and cookies too. Limited to 12 people per session so everyone gets elbow room, so please reserve by e-mail with the date you want and how many are coming. Dress warm; the porch is covered but it's October. Ages 10 and up with a grownup.

We can't ship live plants or fresh wreaths (we tried; the post office is not gentle), but dried goods travel fine. Send an e-mail to [email protected] with what you'd like and your mailing address, and we'll write back with a total including postage. We ship when your check arrives. Most orders go out within a week.

Postage is usually $3 to $5 in the continental U.S. We'll tell you exactly before you send anything.

Anna and Erik bought this land in 1988 when it was a played-out sheep pasture with a leaning barn and one good well. Anna had grown herbs in pots on an apartment balcony for years and wanted room; Erik wanted a barn to fix. Both wishes came true, and the first lavender went in the ground in the spring of 1989: forty plants, half of which the deer ate. We put up a fence. The first farm stand was a card table with a coffee can for money in 1991. The drying barn got its new roof in 1994, and that is when we started making wreaths through the winter instead of just selling plants in spring. Our kids grew up weeding these beds and now the oldest does the tying and the youngest handles the cash box on Sundays (and, we are told, this Web page will be "improved" when she gets home from college at Thanksgiving).

We are still small, still doing everything by hand, and we like it that way. Thank you for stopping by.

Some neighbors on the GeoCities.us Kitchen Table WebRing: Sourdough Sam bakes a fine loaf and buys our rosemary; Betty's Backyard Vegetable Patch; Rosa's Kitchen Table. For more plants, see Willow Creek Garden Center.