You want to start a what?

Lots of people ask us how we got started and why we chose lavender. To explain, I'll have to go back a few years and start with one simple fact: We bought the farm.

That's pretty much it. My poor husband had no idea what he was getting into when we agreed that moving to my grandparent's home place was a good idea. It seemed like a great plan...buy a business (he's an Allstate agent), rent the home my grandparent's made their life in until things got settled and we knew we weren't going to go completely broke, and then see what happens. Go with the flow.

Sounds good? Right?

It did to us!

Until the point we moved to Somerset, I had been focused on climbing the career ladder. I loved my job in marketing and PR, but when our first child came along it was like I hit a "trump-size" wall (sorry...had to throw that in there). I no longer wanted to get my Ph.D., work 50-60 hours a week or live in the city. Instead, I longed for time at home with my little guy and a quieter life in a small town. Luckily, my sweet husband agreed. Although he really had no experience with traditional farming, he was raised on a few acres and also had an appreciation for country life. Things seemed to fall into place as we were given the opportunity to move into my grandparent's home, located just 13 country miles from my husband's office. At the time, my grandmother, who was 97, had to be cared for in a nursing facility and the house was sitting empty. We thought our move would be temporary, as we really didn't know what the future held for her or for us. In a shorter time than we expected, my grandmother (Mama as we called her) was called Home and we were given the opportunity to buy the house and about 8 acres around it.

Fast forward to this "calling" I had to do something with the land. I wanted to be a farmer, but I knew I didn't really want (or could) be a traditional farmer with row crops, cattle, etc. By this time, we had one small child and another on the way. I had a great part-time job in public relations and a photography business that kept my busy. But the desire was still there. Every few weeks, I'd call my dad (who farms 1,200 acres and is an agricultural genius) and tell him my latest ideas. I wanted to milk sheep, I said. (Silence from dad). I wanted to raise pigs, (More silence). I watched "Farm Kings" and wanted to raise chickens. (Can you guess his response?)

Then, my mom said, "Let's grow lavender!"

Sure!

"Let's grow lavender," I told my unsuspecting husband. (tee, hee, hee...)

And, that's how we started. We knew nothing, read lots, and threw some plants in the ground. We watered them with hope and began to figure out how many things we were doing wrong, typically a little too late. But, our plants thrived.

We planted some more. We started making products. We got licensed to sell products. We planted more. We pulled weeds, watched some plants die, planted more, learned more, experimented, wished we'd done things differently, realized we did some thing right...and so on.

Today, we have about 250 plants. Some look amazing. Others, not so much. We're still learning and growing, but we're loving our little adventure in non-traditional farming. Our hope is to share some of our struggles and successes with all the other lavender lovers out there through this blog. We'd love to hear from you, too! Drop us a note to say hello and follow along on our adventure!

-Allison