What is Project Lavender?
Project Lavender started a few years ago with the dreams of several lavender
lovers in
Angelica including Pat Kaake & Fleurette Pelletier. Project Lavender became
a reality
in March of 2007, and the interest shown has grown and many people are now growing
lavender.
Project Lavender wants to celebrate the
Southern Tier’s agricultural heritage,
encourage local cottage industries, and stimulate regional tourism by hosting
an
annual Lavender Festival. Now we are approcahing
our 3rd annual event!
And new events are added every year.
Why Grow Lavender?
Lavender is a small, aromatic shrub used in the fragrance, specialty food, alternative
medicine
industries, and more recently as a successful lure to tourists. Like most herbs,
lavender has few
if any insect pests – deer don’t
even like it! Lavender ranks high as a sustainable crop because
it does not rely on pesticides and fertilizers. Although family farmers may
find large-scale
extraction of lavender’s valuable oil too expensive and laborious, small-scale
lavender
production is feasible for some farmers and gardeners using alternative marketing
strategies.
Entertainment farming has been a very successful form of alternative marketing
for lavender,
especially as a focus for annual festivals and lavender product sales. Some
types of lavender
have been grown successfully near lake Champlain in upstate NY and in the “Banana
belt”
south of lake Ontario, as well as in Illinois, Michigan, Washington, Northern
Idaho,
Pennsylvania, and even Minnesota.
Lavender & Agri-Tourism
Agritourism represents a real opportunity for economic development in some communities.
The agritourism industry is relatively undeveloped in New York State compared
to some
other states, and especially compared to other countries where agritourism is
extremely
popular among vacationers. There are many opportunities for strengthening agritourism
in New York, locally, on the regional level, and statewide. Enhancing cooperation
among
agritourism businesses, connecting agritourism with other forms of tourism,
creating cooperative
promotional programs, building an international presence for NY agritourism,
and providing
business development assistance and support for new agritourism enterprises
are among
the strategies that could be pursued. Agriculture and Agri-Tourism are NY’s
top industries.
The New York Agritourism and Education Program creates opportunities for Empire
State
farmers to promote their operations and attract travelers to visit a trail of
New York farms.
The NY Agritourism Trail now covers 22 counties.
Entertainment Farming Business
Lavender Festivals have become popular across the US, where visitors enjoy driving
a ‘Lavender Trail’,
gathering bouquets of “wands” (spikes of blooming lavender gathered
for drying) from the fields,
or purchasing lavender products such as pillows, room fresheners, soap, lotion,
potpourri, wreaths,
candles, and food products made by the local growers in cottage industries.
Entire lavender
themed weddings have also taken off. Lavender farms in Pennsylvania, Washington,
Texas,
and Michigan have provided significant boosts to their local economies and have
become an
established part of their local tourist
industry, promoted by both local and state governments.
Lavender and lavender products are sold at various types of venues: lavender
farms, cottage
industries, festivals, retail shops, and farmers’ markets.
• Lavender picking or “cut your own bundle” have become extremely
popular, sometimes
with lunches, teas, and picnics as part of the visit.
• Lavender Trails – brochures
identifying where lavender is grown and where lavender products can be purchased.
• Lavender Festivals – held yearly during the height of the lavender
blooming season in July
• Culinary Uses include lavender jelly, honey, sugar, cookies, pound cake,
ice cream, culinary herb blends, tea, lemonade,
fudge, and even salmon and beef! Culinary lavender can be used anywhere rosemary
is used in savory cooking.
• Personal Product uses include bath products, soap, shampoos, lotions,
bath oils, bath salts, and pet care products.
• Decorative/Craft uses include sachets, potpourris, wands, pillows, wreaths,
bundles, dried arrangements, wall hangings, etc.
• Lavender Weddings have become popular as brides make lavish use of lavender
to heighten the romance
of their weddings in fresh and dried bouquets, in their flower baskets and wedding
tosses,
in lavender scented candles for the ceremony and in place setting favors for
their wedding guests.
Some brides are married in the fields with lavender surrounding them as well,
with a wedding
reception area dressed up in lavender.
• Lavender plants and plugs at larger farms and greenhouses
• Wholesale lavender sold fresh and dried to cottage industries
Going Prices of Lavender
• Dried Bundles: Retail about $7 to $15 per dried bundle (depends on size
of bundle and length of stem),
wholesale about $4 to $8 per bundle
• Dried Flower Buds: Retail about $10 to $30 per lb for dried flower buds
(depends on lavender cultivar,
and intensity of color & scent), wholesale about $5 to $15 per lb.
References
1. NYS Agritourism & Education http://www.nyagtours.com/index.htm
2. ATTRA Lavender Production, Products, Markets, and Entertainment Farms http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/lavender.html
3. ATTRA Entertainment Farming & Agritourism http://www.attra.org/attrapub/summaries/entertainment.html
4. Cornell University Linking Agriculture and Tourism http://www.cfap.org/afs_temp3.cfm?topicID=372
5. Press Release, 2/26/07, Sharon Rader
6. Lavender Green http://lavendergreen.com/
7. Lavender Creek Farm http://lavendercreek.stores.yahoo.net/index.html
8. Washington State University, Lavender Production and Marketing http://www.smallfarms.wsu.edu/crops/lavender.html
9. Sequim Lavender Growers Association http://www.lavendergrowers.org/growers.html
10. Blossom Farm http://www.blossomfarm.com/lavender_buds.htm