Sarah Berringer Bader

Throughout my life, I have always loved getting my hands in the dirt. There is something very spiritual about planting something and nurturing it until it comes to life. I spent many summers on my family’s farm in Oklahoma as a child. The sense of community, the love of the “farm lifestyle" - has always been something I wanted to be a part of as an adult. When we purchased our five acre farm in 2000, I spent many, many hours in the garden. At that time, we had a filbert orchard and the trees eventually died of blight. After taking them out, I pondered a replacement crop, mostly for our farm deferral. After visiting Sequim, Washington and seeing fields of a wondrous herb called lavender, I toyed with the idea of planting a plot somewhere on the property. I decided to plant a test plot in 2003 and acquired starts from a wholesale supplier. Once the plants bloomed, I realized that close to 70% of them were mislabeled. It was a frustrating experience, but out of that, came an opportunity to find out what they really were and to research lavender growers in our area. Many lavender starts are brought into the US from other countries and the chance for mislabeling is high. Many types of lavender are grown from seed and are not true to variety, making it difficult to acquire a correctly labeled quality lavender plant. I came across growers that have been starting lavenders from cuttings for many years and acquired varieties that are not readily available in other parts of the country. As my collection grew, I built my first propagation greenhouse in 2005. Two more were built in 2006 and still another one was built early in 2009. In 2006, we planted close to 5000 plants in our upper field with over 80 cultivars of lavender. This gave me a chance to find out first hand which ones are good for what purposes. Visitors get a chance to walk through the fields and see the plant’s growth habit, color, bloom time and ask questions to find out which lavenders work for them. Then you may purchase our plants after seeing firsthand what the plant will look like once it’s fully grown. This gave me an idea. Why not offer these plants to folks around the country, especially those who may not have been exposed to these wonderful new species? We began selling plants wholesale on line and now sell plants all over the country and in Canada. People who want to start lavender farms just like I did can ask questions about planting, soil, different varieties, as well as laying out the land - and I can help them pick which ones will work for them based on their preferences. This year, after taking many pictures and breaking down the lavender by different characteristics, we have launched our new retail plant website. Visitors can choose lavender based on uses, color preference, even color of the foliage. Our easy to use site map lets you choose lavender that will grow well in your region. This has been a true labor of love. In 2005, my marriage ended and I almost closed up shop. The first years were very difficult raising two small children and running a business but I hung on and listened to that voice inside that told me to keep going. I believe that we are all given a chance to pursue our passions and we can either continue meet our challenges head on or play it safe. Today my children get the chance to see their Mom do what she loves and make a living at it, and I get the chance to see them enjoy what farm life has to offer. During the summer we walk down to our vegetable garden and gather produce for our weekly soup, which they help me make. We can make a day of collecting bugs and viewing them through a magnifying glass. Watching the praying mantis eggs hatch in our greenhouses is a quite an event. There is so much more, especially those moments that are hard to put into words. Being able to pass along our experiences and offer a piece of our farm to you gives me great joy. We are truly blessed. We look forward to seeing you soon!