The Garlic Farm in Isle of Wight

The Garlic farm in the Isle of Wight is known for their great food and their shops, but to be honest with you I visited it for a different reason. Not even for their garlic. I went there with my friend Andrea in order to see their sunflower field. I am after all named Floraine which comes from the root word flora which mean flower. I was really prepared for that day, I even did my OOTD(Outfit of the Day) so I can get good photos with the sunflowers.

We followed google maps and took the bus to Newchurch. We reached the bus stop to the destination and we realised that it was actually in the middle of nowhere and that the farm itself is still a fair walk from the bus stop. Anyway instead of being dismayed, we pottered along enthusiastically as we were quite excited to eat at their restaurant as a lot of people are raving about it including the owner of the BnB we were staying in.

The terrain was interesting and well it gives you a forest feel. And it was actually pretty fun. It reminds us of the manmade forest in Bilar from our home province in Bohol. I was lucky to be traveling with a very funny and entertaining person so the walk felt bearable. We were the only ones walking that day as most visitors came with a car.

When we got to the farm we were actually quite tired already as we walked 30 minutes to get there. So we went to the restaurant to eat but I don't know how on earth it happened that on a weekday they were very packed and put us on a waiting list. My landlady definitely said no need to book. I think it was because it was post lockdown and people all wanted a meal out. The queue to get in was pretty full so we agreed to be put on the list.

We then decided to find the sunflower fields first. It was a fair walk to reach it. We had a map but we were not great in following directions. Furthermore, it was a vast farmland. We did eventually find the sunflowers but they were in a dying state. Unfortunately we came quite late in the year for it. But still we came all this way so we still took some photos with them. They were giant sunflowers so they were almost as tall as us. We marvelled at their size and beauty. By the way, you know that sunflowers are also called Mirasol, which translates to mirror of the sun, as their heads follow the sun.

After we saw the sunflowers we headed back to the restaurant but they told us that they cannot take further customers unfortunately. Since we were pretty famished we decided to grab something at their artisan ice cream shop. Any bit of sugar would do really. We tried their garlic ice cream because we did not want to be ignorant about it. Honestly I was expecting it to taste weird but it was rather delicious! They have masterfully made the garlic into a dessert! Thumbs up for that!

We then decided to call it a day and headed back to the bus stop. We had to wait 2 hours for the bus as we missed the previous one by a couple of seconds. By the time we found another bus, we were more than grateful as it was quite scary standing by the side of the road like that with no proper bus stop and also the heat was sweltering we were dried up.

To be honest with you, a lot of aspects in this trip didn't go as planned. We struggled to get there and out of there. We weren't able to eat a proper meal. The sunflowers were almost dead. But I learned a lesson from that. First, is to expect the unexpected and learn to manage my expectations. Second, make the most of what you're dealt with. And lastly, learn to laugh at your mistakes.

I think I would visit The Garlic Farm again but on the next time I will come more prepared and also at the right time of the year so that I will get a better experience. Hopefully we can also find someone who can drive us there next time. That's all for now. Cheers!