Lavender at King Pine Farms

Growing lavender at King Pine Farms has been an interesting and mostly joyful journey.

We are fortunate to live on the Anoka sand plain, which is ideal for the drainage that lavender plants need. During the summer of 2021 we planted our first lavender shrubs, and that summer we learned quite a bit.

First, baby lavender looks like a carrot top to a rabbit. Our rabbits weren’t able to tell the difference and I’m sure they were sadly disappointed when they didn’t dig up any carrots. Rightfully so! We spent a few weeks feeling like Mr. McGregor, but after establishing a fence we seemed to win the battle. They must have learned their lesson, as they are no longer giving us any trouble.

Second, we needed to learn patience. In the first year of planting, the lavender buds need to be clipped in order for the energy of the plants to transfer from creating buds to growing deep roots. We were so excited to see the little purple buds and cutting them back was an exercise of faith. Everything we had learned directed us to follow this practice, and it paid off the summer of 2022 when the lavender survived our MN winter and flowered beautifully in July.

Watch for more posts about our 2022 harvest experiences coming soon.