Sauvie Island Lavender Farm

Visit the Farm Memorial Day Weekend
Here at Sauvie Island Lavender Farm, we are a few short weeks away from the lavender field blooming. Fortunately, the amazing lavender aroma is found in the entire plant and our field smells wonderful. So join us Memorial Day weekend at farm. We will be open Monday too!

Here is what's happening this weekend:
Purchase lavender tea or lemonade and shortbread for just $5.00 per person and find the perfect spot in the lavender field to sit back, relax and enjoy the view.

New lavender products this week:
Lavender soy candles poured inside antique tea cups.
Lavender bath salt made right here on the farm with our French lavender mix.
Lavender mint glycerin soap with lavender buds.
Lavender mint glycerin cherub guest soap.

Lavender Plants:
Looking for a lavender plant for your garden? Come see us. We have a great selection of French, English, and Spanish lavenders. Don't know the difference? We will be happy to explain. You will receive a free Lavender Growing Tip card with plant purchase. Buy 10 or more plants and receive 10 percent off your plant purchase.

How to Find Us:
Sauvie Island Lavender farm is located 3.5 miles from the Sauvie Island Bridge. Just follow the yellow and purple Lavender Farm signs.

Sauvie Island Lavender Farm
20230 NW Sauvie Island Road
Portland, OR 97231
503-577-6565

Greetings from Sauvie Island Lavender Farm.   

Your year round source for all things lavender.

This time of year can be a bit overwhelming for a small farm like ours.  It is the time of year when we must dust off our work boots, sharpen the pruning loppers, throw on the raingear, and tend to the grapes and fruit trees at the farm. 

Besides lovely lavender, we grown Shiro Yellow Plums, Mulberries, New Century and Hosui Asian Pears, Bartlett Pears, Apples, Figs, Chardonnay Grapes, Cherries, and Kiwi.  Some fruit trees we just have one or two of, but when you add them altogether, there is a whole bunch of pruning to be done. 

So imagine my surprise when I pulled into my driveway after a morning of running errands to find all 150 feet of grapes had been pruned and all the vines hauled away!  I immediately knew who our pruning savior was - our neighbor.

But we have no ordinary neighbor.  In fact, our neighbor is a nursery whose headquarters are located a half a nation away in Minnesota.  Bailey Nursery, Inc. has been in business for over 100 years.  It is still a family owned business with family values and superb employees. 

On Sauvie Island, Bailey has about 2000 acres in nursery stock and they surround two sides of my lavender farm.  They have been tremendously supportive of my farm.  When it came time to plant my lavender a few years back, my husband fell down the stairs and dislocated his shoulder.  Bailey came to the rescue by hooking me up with several of their employees to help me plant our first 800 lavenders.  When I first opened to the public, it was Bailey who came to buy lavender plants to enhance their office landscaping.  And when I was working on a fundraiser to aid a family with a gravely ill child, Bailey called to offer nursery stock to help the cause.

Well a simple thank you just didn’t seem enough for all that Bailey has done for us, so I spent day baking two hundred plus cookies for the entire crew to enjoy.  And I am letting you know of their generosity.  If anyone from Bailey Nursery in Minnesota happens to read this blog – please pass on to the Bailey family how wonderful their nursery crew is out here on Sauvie Island.

Julie

Sauvie Island Lavender Farm 

Have you ever wondered what farmers do in the winter.  Well here is a taste of what we have been up to at Sauvie Island Lavender Farm.  With the lavender plants still snug in their winter dormancy, there is very little daily farm work to be done other than feed and water the farm animals.  So our attention has shifted to the “business” of farming.  This includes revamping our marketing plan and ensuring our farm business plan is on track.  

This is also a great time to network with other farmers.  On that note, we went to a farm association meeting recently.  This particular group is made up of about 60 farms in our local tri-county area.  The farmers are a mix of young and old, big agriculture, small farms and farm stands.  The association’s objective is to collectively market our farms through an annually printed produce guide that is distributed for free throughout our collective communities.  But this bunch of farmer’s are attempting a feat that has some farmers jumping with joy and others are quaking in their boots.  They are shifting their marketing outreach from solely print to include the internet.  Yes, the Tri County Farm Fresh Association is now on Face Book and MySpace.  It was a sight to see the younger farmers explaining how to send emails and define a blog to the group. 

One networking opportunity we like to participate each year is a farm tour sponsored by another farm marketing association whose members are from Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.  This year’s farm tour will take us on three days of touring farms in Olympia, Washington.  It is a great way to learn from other farmers and hopefully build upon their successes.

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Well, here is a quick little recipe I just love and it is oh so easy to do.

Lavender Pepper

Add one tablespoon of culinary lavender buds to ½ cup on coarse ground black pepper.  Place in a container with a lid and let the flavors infuse for about one week.  Enjoy.

Lavender pepper is great on EVERYTHING - salads, soups, eggs, meats, and more.  Just use your imagination. 

FYI – I like to lightly grind the lavender before I add it to the pepper.

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For those of you new to Sauvie Island Lavender Farm, we are located on one of the largest 

inland islands in the USA.  Sauvie Island is only a few minutes from Portland, Oregon.  

We are a mix of farm lands, nursery lands and protected fish and wildlife lands.  

Sauvie Island receives around two million visitors a year.  That's more than Yosemite 

National Park.  Folks like to visit for a number of reasons.  Favorite activities are 

visiting our sandy beaches, birding, hunting, boating, and visiting the wonderful farms 

and farm markets for fresh picked produce and of course, lavender.  In the dead of winter 

is when we get creative here on the farm.  This is when we head up to the workshop and 

create our wonderful lavender products.  This week, we are working on sewing eye masks 

and matching sachets to sell here at Local Harvest and stock up for our season when the 

farm is open to the public.  Next week we will be busy creating lavender bath salts for 

our customers.  Then it's on to lotions, soaps, massage and bath oils and more!  

RECIPE

Here is a quick and easy lavender recipe that is perfect for a Sunday brunch or tea.

1 Lemon Blueberry Muffin Mix prepared according to directions.

1 Tablespoon dried culinary lavender (any angustifolia or Provence) lightly ground.

Just add the lavender into the batter and bake according to the muffin mix directions.

Enjoy!