Wellington County and area farms, nurseries, bakeries and more opened their doors to the public on Saturday as part of the Spring Rural Romp.
Among them was Tullamore Lavender Co., Wellington County’s newest lavender farm based in Arthur.
The small-scale farm started as a side hustle with a test plot of 100 plants in 2019. Last year, owner Stephanie Craig was able to quit her full-time job and focus on the farm, which will have more than 5,000 plants by the end of this season.
In the last year she and her husband Steven Larmer have been working towards opening up to the public, landscaping the farm, working on products and opening a concession stand that sells lavender-flavoured drinks and snacks.
“Lavender is such a cool product. It’s a beautiful plant, but it’s beautiful when it’s dead as well,” she said.
Plus, it has a range of uses, from culinary to aromatherapy.
She jumped in without knowing much about plants, thinking they could easily scale up from 100 to 2,000 plants – but it was a learning curve.
“You have to learn what works – learn about your soil, how much wind you have. So we've been slowly adapting and planting different varieties and expanding,” she said.
“It’s a Mediterranean plant, so it is a little bit temperamental. It doesn’t like cold harsh winds, which we certainly have. It needs to have really good drainage, certain types of soil,” she said. “Growing one or two in your garden can be easy, but (growing) thousands is complicated.”
“I’m really proud I didn’t give up,” she said.
While many lavender farms typically focus on aromatherapy and sell essential oils, Craig is trying something different.
“We don’t do essential oils; we’re really trying to focus on the culinary aspect, exploring lavender in interesting ways through food.”
While people often find lavender tastes like soap, she said it’s most likely because they’ve only tasted it when someone has used too much or not the right variety. That’s not the case with their products.
“We really wanted to showcase not only the ways in which you can use lavender but that different varieties have different flavours and notes similar to wine or beer.”
Some of their offerings include carefully crafted lavender-flavoured sparkling drinks, including one with lemongrass, lavender and chamomile – all grown onsite.
They also sell lavender popsicles made in Toronto, lavender goats milk ice cream made in Bright, scone mixes and other products like lavender heat wraps and dried bouquets.
Many of their products are made by partnering with other local businesses; some products also feature lavender from other farms, which helped to mentor her when she was starting out.
Saturday was the first time the farm welcomed the public, but it won’t be the last.
Starting June 19 until July 21, guests can visit Tullamore while it's in full bloom from Wednesday to Sunday.
Craig is also running a lavender festival alongside MKT MKT Events on June 22, with live entertainment, yoga sessions and other workshops. Tickets are selling for $12 in advance or $15 at the gate.
