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Bountiful Blooms By Sarah Lemon Jul 17, 2022 01:00 AM A A 4 View all photos Summer’s Southern Oregon Lavender Festival offers food, crafts and acres of aromatic flowers Mail Tribune/Jamie Lusch The English Lavender Farm and gift shop, 8040 Thompson Creek Road, Applegate, has more than 100 products made with its namesake herb. Brita Goldstein, left, and Valerie Elder display a lavender bouquet and lavender lemonade at Applegate River Lavender Farm (formerly Lavender Fields Forever) during the 2021 Southern Oregon Lavender Trail season. [Photo courtesy of Applegate River Lavender Farm] Mail Tribune/Jamie Lusch Lavender blooms at Applegate River Lavender Farm (formerly Lavender Fields Forever) in Ruch. The English Lavender Farm in Applegate is one of six farms on the Southern Oregon Lavender Trail. [File photo] An annual celebration of lavender may be winding down, but the lavender, itself, has other ideas. Unseasonably cold spring weather, say local lavender farmers, delayed flowering. So the first festival weekend on the Southern Oregon Lavender Trail in late June didn’t provide all the purple splendor that organizers and lavender lovers have come to expect. “It was ready to bud out, and then we got three days of frost and snow in April,” says Sue Owen, co-owner of The English Lavender Farm. “Our June festival showed not very much lavender at all.” And although Sunday, July 17, typically is billed as the crop’s culmination, local lavender fields will be resplendent for weeks to come, says Owen. Visitors to Lavender Trail farms are invited to soak in the sights and scents to their hearts’ content. “Now the lavender is in full bloom,” she said. “Everyone will get to do U-pick.” Sunday’s free, self-guided tour of six local lavender farms intersects with the larger Rogue Valley Farm Tour, which highlights the Lavender Trail alongside more than 20 other local farms from Grants Pass to Ashland, from Applegate to Eagle Point. Also free and self-guided, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the tour is organized by Rogue Valley Food System Network, Ashland and Medford food co-ops and other sponsors. Plenty of food can be found on both tours. In addition to lavender farms’ jams, jellies, preserves, beverages and ice cream, several food trucks plan to set up along the route. Some farms, including Medford’s Dunbar Farms and Fry Family Farm, operate their own food and beverage service while others, such as Central Point’s Rusted Gate Farm, will offer samples of farm products. Culinary use distinguishes English lavender varieties from French varieties, also known as lavendins. The former inspires chefs and perfumers who distill it into oils, vinegars, syrups and spice blends, as well as body care products. “It’s more layered; it’s more complex,” says Owen of her chief crop. “I’ve heard English lavender referred to as ‘true lavender.’” A naturally occurring hybrid of English lavender and “spike lavender,” French lavender has a sharper aroma, owing to higher levels of camphor. But French lavender’s pungent perfume also comes with much higher quantities of essential oil. Owen distills almost all her Applegate farm’s English lavender flowers into oil for retail sale or use in their farm products. The crushed buds make unconventional spice rubs for seasoning pork and chicken, as well as soothing tea blends for sipping. Stir in some lavender-infused honey to heighten the flavor. A gift basket with dozens of products from the six Lavender Trail farms is the raffle prize at stake for visitors to every property, who obtain stamps in their brochure. Owen says she expects about 2,000 visitors to her 26-acre farm this weekend, although Lavender Trail farms — some offering classes and workshops — typically will keep weekend hours through the remainder of the season. “This is really the first year I’ve seen people getting out and about again,” says Owen. In response to COVID pandemic concerns, the Rogue Valley Farm Tour created several “virtual tours” for its website, roguevalleyfarmtour.com. The English Lavender Farm and 10 others still are featured virtually on the site. Owen recounts for visitors how she and her husband, Derek, came across the pond from London a decade ago to settle in the Applegate Valley. Leaving their parcel-posting business, the couple isn’t the only one locally who look to lavender as inspiration for more sustainable lifestyles and businesses. And amid Southern Oregon’s drought, lavender is only gaining in popularity. Native to Europe’s Mediterranean region — Spain, France, Italy and Greece — lavender made its way to England, where it gained a following that carried over to America. More than 80 labeled lavender varieties — 250 individual plants — can be perused at the Oregon State University Lavender Garden, open daily for self-guided tours at Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center in Central Point. The garden fronts Hanley Road. Forgiving of the novice gardener, lavender is resilient but does particularly well in regions with mild winters and hot, dry summers. Where other plants would suffer, sandy, gravelly soil with good drainage pleases lavender, which doesn't need frequent watering. In fact, lavender self-seeds in gravel paths between plantings at The English Lavender Farm, says Owen. She encourages visitors — particularly children — to dig up seedlings, put them in pots and take them home. “The lavender just pops up all by itself,” says Owen. “It doesn’t get watered; it doesn’t get tended. “It makes me think I don’t need to farm it!” Download maps and brochures for the Southern Oregon Lavender Trail and Rogue Valley Farm Tour at southernoregonlavendertrail.com and roguevalleyfarmtour.com . Watch virtual tours at roguevalleyfarmtour.com/virtual-farm-tours Reach features editor Sarah Lemon at 541-776-4494 or [email protected]