Support Small Local Business Lavender Harvest on San Juan

Progress of weeding the tall grasses

Update: We have had some successful mostly volunteer weeding parties. Your generous donations have already been put to use to buy tools, pay for supplies needed for processing, a majority will pay for the labor needed to harvest the flowers and the cost of using an industrial size still. One load of the still will hold about 500 large plants worth of material - that’s 14-16 garbage cans full of Lavendar flowers.

we are not quite ready to harvest but plan to to it in about a week.

Thanks for ALL your SUPPORT ANS DONATIONS ..

running a small biz is a crazy expensive hustle. It means the world to me and I can’t wait to share the magic of this Lavendar with you all and the community!

Many of you may be familiar with the beautiful lavender farms and fields here on San Juan Island. They are often pictured in promotional materials and were once a tourist hot spot. Since Pelindaba closed suddenly, the fields have gone fallow and the plants are now slowly dying.

There is an opportunity to save 12,000 lavender plants on a private field. The land owner would dearly love to see these plants cared for, a small business thrive, and the island regain the opportunity for local lavender products.

In order to save these plants I need to act at once--we are rapidly approaching the peak of harvest season right now! Collecting the lavender requires weeding the over grown field, harvesting the 4,000 lavender plants and transporting the flowers to Orcas Island for processing. It is way more work than I can possibly do alone, and the cost of that labor and processing adds up fast.

All told the labor cost to process all this the lavender is between $3-6,000. Since this opportunity arose so quickly and harvest needs to happen soon, I don't have the luxury of time to wade through grant or loan applications. While I would love to have a kickstarter to formally arrange the funds and offer incentives to the lovely supporter - that online format does not work for the time line of this project. So I'm turning to my community in the hopes of finding any additional support. Any donations are greatly, and thoroughly appreciated!

I would love to use any funds left over to put towards my own still, to be able to process much of the lavender in house, provide regular employment, and dive into my love of creating beautiful, healthy, sustainable, local lavender and other island grown products.

Let's come together to preserve this beautiful lavender oasis in the PNW!

I would love to share some of the Lavendar products once they are made so if you leave a donation and would like to be sent a gift send us your email and we will get your address!

#SaveTheLavender #SupportLocalFarms #OrganicHarvests