Farm

Red Oak Lavender Farm LLC ~

We pledgeto do our best to grow lavender in Georgia under difficult conditions and make the highest quality of lavender products we can. If you think where lavender normally grows - Provence area of France and Washington state here in the USA with average of 12-14" of rainfall, we are so much further south with 59-61" average of rainfall yearly, which makes it very difficult to grow lavender here. We battle high rainfall, high humidity, and Georgia hard red clay. We work very hard in the fields to add amendments to our soil to make it more playable and more alkaline which lavender prefers. We also have to raise our soil levels to allow better drainage, since lavender does not like getting their feet (roots) wet. All this takes a lot of sweat and tears to get lavender to grow here in the South.

We grow the lavender on our small farm with our home, so maintenance can be achieved on a daily bases and not have to travel. With more and more people interested in our lavender it was hard to be at all farmers market and shows at once, so we closed in our carport and made it into our shop. People are amazed and didn't even know that the shop was a garage. With added touches to the shop and our lavender hanging up and in baskets the shop it looks like you are in Provence France, many of our customers remark. We may be a small lavender farm, but largest in Georgia opened to the public and takes four of us a whole week just to harvest all our lavender.

Every year we will loose some lavender, due to the weather here in the south, it's inevitable. But all lavender growers will loose some of their lavender each year. We persevere and will pull what dies and plant more in the spring. So when you arrive you will see different ages of lavender growing, from newly planted ones to our 4-5 year olds. Lavender seems to only last 5 years here in the south, due to how quickly it rows here with our humidity and heat. It's a lot of work to keep the farm going, but well worth it to us when we hear the awes, and oohs... and when people tell us how our little farm made them so happy, the smiles are totally worth all the work. So check out our farm and shop. See what makes us so unique - to actually see lavender being grown, harvested, and made into products our customers can purchase.

Several distilleries use our Angustifoilia (culinary) lavender to make their spirits (lavender Vodka - Moonrise Distillery and Etowah Meadery - Lavender & Honey Mead). It was such a pleasure to see how they could use our lavender to make such special spirits for more to enjoy.

Lavender was truly more than just a feast for the eyes. Research states that lavender is an antibacterial and anti fungal. No wonder its been used for over 6,000 years! There are over 450 different varieties of lavender, some sweet for desserts and drinks, some spicy for culinary dishes, and some high in camphor content (ones most are use to) for bath and beauty products. No matter the variety, they are all amazing and a treat to smell and taste.

We also grow sunflowers, an array of cut flowers: Dahlias, l

Larkspur, Tulips, Allium, Delphinium, Phlox, Stock, Coneflower, PenstemonYarrow, Russian Sage, Lupine, Wisteria, mixed Wildflowers, and even Loofas. So if you get a chance come out to visit us and come learn what miracles we have here. "A Little Bit" of what we call Provence, France right here in Georgia! We would love to meet and share our stories with you.

Lavender Types: There are over 450 different varieties and that there are lavender you can cook with and others that are best for lotions and bath products, but not good for tasting, and how to know the difference. Of the 450 different types of lavenders each has their own smell, taste, and color.

Intermedia Lavender: great for bath and body products. Stronger scent. Longer stems.

Angustifolia Lavender: culinary uses and comes in a long range of different colors from white to deep purple. Shorter stems. Sweeter, milder scent.

Our Apiary: We also raise our own bees right here in our lavender field for the highest of all quality honey - "Lavender honey" and full lavender blooms. We just don't only infuse our honey we lavender, but also extract our lavender honey in late summer made by our bees! Our honey sells fast, because it taste so good!

We can't forget to mention our chickens that give us an array of fresh eggs daily!

Best Time to Visit: Actually all months are a wonder to visit the farm from early spring to late fall. Even without the blooms you can smell the calming lavender scent breeze in the air. Lavender blooms during the end of May with our culinary Angustifolias first and ending up in June with our Intermedias.

Harvest Time: We have to harvest our beautiful lavender the toward the last part of June and the first week of July to get the right time of bud bloom or the flowers will fall off and not have any lavender to sell. This timing can vary due to hot days and more rainfall, which can cause the lavender to bloom in mid June. After cutting our lavender blooms we hang them up in our shop for drying. This is an amazing time to visit when the shop if full of lavender and looks like a shop of the olden apothecary shop from colonial days. It is a sight to behold.

Moonrise Distillery makes vodka with our lavender and Etowah Meadery makes a lavender mead with our lavender. We are so proud and honored to have our lavender in these two amazing drinks!

Distilling Lavender Oil: This begins just after harvest and runs a full week. If you are lucky enough you might see how we use our copper distiller and see the rich oil of lavender being collected to make our wonderful products for our shop. Our lavender is 100% pure, unlike many other oils out there in the market. This means a savings for our customers since our lavender oil can be added to other carrier oils to make it go further for you. We never use the synthetic fragrances, and we use our own farm grown lavender to provide you with the freshest lavender possible. We cut the middle man out, so our lavender oil is priced at a savings for our customers. We also label our lavender oil with the specific lavender plant it is distilled from, so you know exactly what you are getting and know it is the best quality.

Growing Lavender is a hobby and a passion for us. We enjoy the purple blooms and all of its health benefits and enjoy sharing our passion with others.

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Review:

DeeDee J. - "We visited about a month ago. I bought the shampoo and conditioner. I cannot tell you the difference it has made with my hair. It is so soft. I, over 40 and my hair had become so coarse. I tried expensive product after another and nothing worked. Your lavender shampoo and conditioner have simply amazed me. Please don't stop making this. Will be back soon to get a stock pile."

Lara D - "Quaint little farm with tons of lavender. a few chickens, and a great gift shop. Definitely worth a stop if you like lavender as much as I do."

FLMasterNaturallist - "We were warmly greeted by the owner and given a primer on lavender and about her trip to France and the difference between the types of plants and their uses. We had missed the cutting season, but she allowed us to handle the delicate bunches to take some great photos. The gift shop is lovely too.

Stefanie C - "I read about this farm 3 years ago. made it to the area, but couldn't muster

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