Lavender Fields Forever

BY JOEL SAMS

Kentucky’s lavender growers are passionate about their crop and its many uses

As hot weather blankets the Commonwealth in June and July, one unique crop truly comes into its own. Native to the Mediterranean, lavender thrives in hot, dry climates and poor, chalky or sandy soil. With persistence, soil amendments and careful attention, the plant can thrive in Kentucky. Offering lavender picking, special events and classes, unique products, and multi-generational fun, here are four Kentucky lavender farms you’ll want to visit this season.

WOODSTOCK LAVENDER CO.

When Allison Horseman moved back home to Woodstock in Pulaski County with her husband and kids, she knew she wanted to get her hands in the dirt and honor her family’s farming legacy. She teamed up with her mom, Mary May, and the pair dove headfirst into lavender growing.

“I said, ‘We don’t have much to lose,’ ” May remembered. “We can just get 50 plants and set them out and see what happens.”

Today, Woodstock Lavender Co. has grown from 50 plants to about 1,000, and produces 23 products. The mother-daughter team cultivates 14 varieties of lavender on land that has been in the family since 1928. Guests can visit the farm during the growing season, pick their own bunches of lavender, reserve an optional catered lunch, and browse lavender products for sale.

“It was really important to me to honor the agricultural roots, that heritage that I have on both sides of my family,” Horseman said. “We enjoy telling the story of agriculture in our family, and this was one way that we could do that.”

May and Horseman each bring unique skills to the business. May, who retired from a 25-year teaching career, said that she has a practical bent, and Horseman is a marketing and communications professional.

Still an educator, May likes to open customers’ eyes to the culinary potential of lavender. People don’t always realize it’s a versatile ingredient, but after a cup of lavender lemonade at the farm, they’re often convinced.

Through the farm’s online store, customers can buy a range of valueadded lavender products—from linen spray to lotion to teas and culinary lavender buds. The duo have also launched a subscription box called the Purple Spoon. Customers who subscribe can expect a monthly selection of ready-to-use items such as lavender honey, lavender marshmallows and lavender hot chocolate. During the growing season, customers can purchase products on site.

Horseman, the storyteller, emphasizes the continuity of agriculture in her family’s legacy. “The reason that we do all of this is because we do love agriculture,” she said. “We do love the land, and we do love our heritage, and so sharing that is just important to us … We are out there doing the work, putting in the hours. We honestly love what we do, and we honestly love sharing part of the farm with people, whether they visit or buy our products or just drop us a line on Facebook.”

Woodstock Lavender Co. 13394 Ky. 39, Woodstock 859.608.9117 woodstocklavender.com Open May 27–June 25 Fridays, 5-8 p.m. Saturdays, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Special events are available throughout the season.

BIG ROOTS FARM

One of the most notable features of Big Roots Farm isn’t the lavender crop at all—it’s a labyrinth, built from rocks sourced on site. Patterned on a medieval design, the labyrinth is both a winding footpath and an ancient tool for prayer, meditation or reflection. At Big Roots Farm, guests are invited to walk meditatively into the heart of the labyrinth and leave behind something that “no longer serves them well,” said farmer, author and speaker Erin Ramsey. Some guests leave behind metaphorical burdens; others have left physical tokens such as a lighter; a lipstick case that reads, “I am perfect”; and an ultrasound photo. “It brings a tear to my eye now,” said Ramsey, who farms with her husband, Doug. “There are lots of amazing stories and amazing experiences.”

At the farm, lavender is part of a larger experience that Ramsey said is all about healing and connection. She calls it “growing peace.” The farm brings together a diverse array of people who might have never met otherwise and regularly hosts workshops featuring experts in skincare, meditation and more. Visits to the farm are always free—“We remember how broke we were raising our four kids!” Ramsey said, laughing.

Cut-your-own lavender costs $10 per 2-inch bundle, and customers can buy lavender-CBD products, bath and body products, gift boxes and more in the farm store and online. Best-sellers include lavender linen spray, lavender bundles and lavender wreath-making events.

The Ramseys have four children and three grandchildren, making the farm a three-generation endeavor. All the generations are represented in the farm logo, which features three lavender buds. A sense of connection is important to Ramsey, who said guests benefit both from the traditional healing properties of lavender and the peacefulness of the farm itself. “We’ve had people come just because they were anxious and sit in the field, and they feel much better,” she said. “What most visitors tell us is that it’s magical at Big Roots, and it’s healing, and they feel rejuvenated when they leave.”

Big Roots Farm 3204 Truman Young Road, Hawesville 270.697.3334 bigrootsfarm.com Open May 28-July 3 Fridays/Saturdays, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Sundays, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.

“I have made and served this cake many times to groups who visit Woodstock

Lavender Farm. It is yummy and helps people understand how easy it is to cook with lavender!” — Mary May

Lavender Sour Cream Pound Cake

by Mary May, Woodstock Lavender Co.

1 box yellow cake mix 4 eggs 8 ounces sour cream ½ cup sugar ¾ cup vegetable or canola oil 1 tablespoon crushed lavender buds

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan. 2. Mix all ingredients together except for lavender buds.

Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 4 minutes. Stir in lavender buds. 3. Bake 40-45 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

GLAZE: ½ cup water 2 tablespoons crushed lavender buds ½ cup (or more) confectioners’ sugar

1. Combine water and lavender buds in small saucepan. Gradually bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer 3-5 minutes. 2. Remove from heat. Stir in confectioners’ sugar, combining well. 3. Pour over slices of cake as they are served.

Butterflies enjoy the lavender growing at Big Roots Farm in Hawesville; right, wreath workshop at Lavender in Bloom.

LAVENDER HILLS OF KENTUCKY

Denise Scaringi may not think of herself as a trailblazer, but as the first commercial lavender grower in Kentucky, she’s certainly paved the way for other farmers and entrepreneurs.

Scaringi grew up in rural Bracken County, but in 2005, she was living in Kenton County and feeling nostalgia for the countryside of her childhood. “I was just getting a little homesick for my kids to be able to have a little bit more of a country life instead of the city life that we have here,” she said. “So, I just started looking for what to do with land.”

Scaringi researched various crops—from herbs to trees—before settling on lavender and getting started with the help of her mom and sister. There have been peaks and valleys through the years, she said, including a catastrophic crop loss during the hard winters of 2013 and ’14. Weather patterns have changed, she said, making it difficult to reestablish the volume of lavender she grew before. The lavender patch may be smaller today, but the gift shop, workshops and tours are worthy of a trailblazer.

Like many farms, Lavender Hills of Kentucky is a multigenerational effort. Scaringi’s father keeps the property manicured, and her mother collaborates on products and workshops. A high school business teacher for 27 years, Scaringi loves to educate customers about the uses of the plant.

“We are doing more and more with our culinary lavender,” Scaringi said. “When we first started, people were kind of hesitant—‘What do you mean you eat lavender?’ They only think of it as a flower; they think of it as a scent. But we actually do a lot of cooking with our lavender. We have seen through the years that more and more of our culinary products are selling.”

Scaringi emphasized that growing lavender is hard work. Caring for hundreds of plants is real agriculture that requires labor-intensive harvesting and value-added production. The rewards are real, though, and she’s glad to see more Kentucky farmers growing lavender.

Above, the Habash family of Lavender in Bloom.

“I like the fact that there are more lavender farms in the state, and we have probably met every single person that now has a lavender farm, or we have at least talked to them,” she said. “I like the idea that they saw something fun, something different, and wanted to get involved as well.”

Lavender Hills of Kentucky 229 Conrad Ridge Road, Brookesville 606.735.3335 lavenderhillsofkentucky.com Tours and workshops are offered June through September and must be booked online.

LAVENDER IN BLOOM

Lavender in Bloom may be located in Georgetown, but it was born in Seattle, Washington. While on vacation in the Emerald City, Kefah and Tessa Habash visited a nearby lavender farm and fell in love with the experience. Kefah, who sometimes struggles to sleep, also bought lavender essential oil. (Lavender has been traditionally used as a sleep aid.) “It was the best sleep I’d had in a long time,” Kefah said. “I woke up and I told my wife, ‘I know what I want to do when we retire. I want to have lavender.’ ”

Neither Tessa nor Kefah had grown up farming, but as they learned more about lavender growing, they realized they didn’t want to wait for retirement. “The more we learned about it, the more we loved it,” Tessa said. “It’s definitely a hobby turned business.”

The Habashes, who both practice as optometrists at Advanced Eye Care in Georgetown, now grow 2,000 lavender plants as well as tulips with help from children Noah, 14, and Mariam, 12. Kefah said farming appeals to them because it’s so different from their everyday jobs.

“It’s the complete opposite of what we do all day long,” he said. “Our jobs are in a small room that’s dark with no windows. So, when we’re not at work, we want the opposite. We want to be outside in the sun in the fresh air and with flowers.”

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Lavender Rum Cake

by Denise Scaringi, Lavender Hills of Kentucky

½ cup chopped pecans 2 teaspoons dried lavender buds 1 package yellow cake mix 1 package vanilla pudding mix ½ cup vegetable oil ½ cup rum ½ cup water 4 medium eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and flour bundt cake pan. 2. In a small mixing bowl, toss chopped nuts with 1 teaspoon lavender. Sprinkle nut mixture over the bottom of the pan. 3. In large bowl, beat together cake mix, pudding, vegetable oil, rum and water. Add eggs and the remaining lavender and beat until smooth. Do not overbeat. 4. Pour batter over nuts in pan.

Bake for 60 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean. Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

GLAZE enough for 2 cakes ¼ cup butter ¼ cup water 1 cup granulated sugar ½ cup rum

1. Bring the butter, water and sugar to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 minute. Add rum and stir. 2. Poke holes into the cake with a skewer. Brush and spoon half the glaze over the cake.

“Working with lavender ignites all your senses,” Tessa said. “What I love most about having a lavender farm is seeing others enjoy themselves while at our farm. There are quiet conversations while picking lavender stems and taking photos to remember their day together. Many people comment how relaxing it is to be at our farm.”

Lavender in Bloom sells a wide range of products, including baking mixes, lavender ice cream, a handdistilled hydrosol body spray, lavender sachets and more. Special events on the farm have included yoga in the lavender field, wreath making and, of course, lavender picking.

“I think people love the relaxing atmosphere of it,” Kefah said. “They love the beauty of the farm, of seeing the lavender plants, and I think they’re amazed. We see families come out in generations—grandparents, parents, kids—and everybody’s having fun with how beautiful it looks and how great it smells.” Q

Lavender in Bloom 426 McClelland Circle, Georgetown lavenderinbloom.farm Season opens in June, with days and hours to be announced.