Sensory celebration

Neighbour Julianna Tyers trims lilac stems to form a bouquet on Saturday.

Turning lavender into gold

An acre of lavender makes a powerful impact, both visually—a rich splash of purple and white flowers forming an intricate quilt stretching to the treeline— and to the nose: a bouquet of scents delicate, elegant and fragrant, wafting across the fields.

Rolande LeBlanc and Derek Ryles were travelling in New Zealand nearly a decade ago when they came across farms of lavender—grown for its scent as well as its flavour, and processed to produce a range of products.

Rolande is trained as a geographer and managed surveys for the federal government in the Yukon Territory. He worked in a quarry near Whitehorse. They always knew they wanted to do something with the land—but it was on a trip to New Zealand that they discovered what it would be. Lavender is a well-developed business in New Zealand with more than two dozen growers and producers. They were bitten.

Derek’s family had a cottage near Marmora. Rolande is from the Gaspe region. Both wanted to be closer to family and build something while they still had the energy and passion.

They had heard about the County and decided to ply the backroads. They knew from their reading and research that lavender grows best in similar conditions to wine. They came across a farm for sale on Closson Road. It was next to a vineyard and winery. It was 48 acres and looked promising. But it was too much too soon.

All that changed a few days later when they returned to Whitehorse to learn the folks renting their home for a month were now interested in buying it.

“We called the agent in Wellington, and asked if the farm was still available,” explains Rolande.

Like many County entrepreneurs, they had no experience growing or marketing lavender products—but they had enthusiasm, drive and the desire to make something from the land. They also had the wisdom to read and research as much as they could on the subject.

Rolande LeBlanc, Derek Ryles and their trusty sidekick Sky.

Seven years later the couple operates a thriving business with three acres under cultivation, mostly a variety of lavender but also a growing complement of herbs. Over the weekend the couple hosted their first ever Lavender Festival featuring live music, food, crafts and information displays. Mostly the hundreds of folks who made their way to the Closson Road farm found themselves drawn to the fields of lavender—soaking in the colours and aroma on a beautiful County summer day.

“We want to show people what we are doing and how many ways lavender can be used,” explained Rolande, with her faithful dog Sky by her side. “Everybody who comes back here to the fields says ‘wow’. We thought it would be fun to share it.

“Bit by bit we have added to our farm—building a new house, a shop as well as a raised feature lavender garden. This year we weren’t building anything so we put on a festival.”

It turns out lavender is used in a wide assortment of products—from traditional oils, soap and lotion to an ingredient in chocolate, jams and an array of herb blends. Many of these creations are on display in their boutique store on the farm.

It takes plenty of lavender to make anything other than an nice arrangement. One tonne of lavender buds and stems, when distilled, produces just 11 litres of oil. Harvesting is done by hand using a sickle—careful to take just the right amount of stem. It is the fluid that is expelled from, yet still clinging to the glands on the tiny buds, that produces the bulk of the oil. The sheaves are gathered on old bed sheets, bundled and brought to a large still. Here a good sized tank stuffed with lavender will distill down to about a cup of oil.

Rolande says the rocky and slightly alkaline soil of Hillier has turned out to be ideal for growing lavender— though the dry summers mean the couple must tend more dutifully to young plants. Each year they add more plants—for after about eight years, lavender oil production diminishes. To manage this renewal cycle Rolande and Derek plan a continual rotation of young, mature and declining plants.

“It’s a seven-days-a-week job,” explains Derek. “We are never not at work.”

Yet the reward is obvious on a sunny July afternoon. Kids are playing in the yard. Visitors are exploring every corner of the property from the store to the fields. Some are whiling away the afternoon in Muskoka chairs strategically placed in the shade bordering the sun-drenched fields. Everyone today is going home with some lavender and feeling better than when they came.