Visitors to Lavender Valley Farm in Parkdale snap an idyllic picture So it did afford us a little more time than some of the other businesses that opened earlier,” remembers Ojeda. Thankfully for us, our season starts in May.
“In February and March, we were really unsure if we were going to be able to open. Lavender Valley also experienced that uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic made 2020 a challenging year to be in almost any kind of business. “Seventy-five plants would give us about a half a gallon. “Unlike some of the other varieties that produce (about) two gallons,” Ojeda notes. That perfume-like profile comes at a price in the volume of essential oils collected. It’s almost like a perfume quality,” says Ojeda. And it has a very light pink to purple-ish flower so it’s really beautiful, but also produces some of the most floral fragrance. “We’re fortunate enough here in Hood River (Valley) to be able to grow it. One variety that was developed on the farm is called “Mellissa,” named for the wife of the former grower. Legend has it that Cleopatra seduced Mark Antony with the fragrance, and many health practitioners swear by the scent’s calming effect. Lavender’s essential oils have a storied history going back at least 2,500 years. Honey produced by these bees has a distinct lavender aroma and subtle tasteĪs versatile as the hydrosol is, the real treasure is the oil. “We’ve got some of the farmers coming in, buying it in big quantities (to) wash their horses down because it’s a natural mosquito and insect repellant,” he says.
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Ojeda calls the hydrosol a “miracle” product that can be bottled as linen spray, skin toner, and window cleaner. Once harvested, a steam distillation process releases and carries oil molecules from the flower buds, then separates the essential oil from a lavender distillate known as hydrosol, as it cools. He’s really mastered the art of pruning it and shaping it.” “Unlike many other shrubs where you can kind of cut them back hard, lavender isn’t as forgiving. “It’s really important when you’re pruning a lavender plant to leave a little bit of the new growth,” Ojeda says. If these twin tasks aren’t done correctly, it can have dire consequences for the plant. “Geronimo is very adept at, we call it, giving it the haircut, (because) not only is he harvesting, but he’s actually pruning at the same time,” says Ojeda. Geronimo Hurtado has mastered the tricky task of pruning and harvesting lavender in one fell swoop His small team includes Geronimo Hurtado, an expert horticulturist in the area. This piece of paradise is where Francisco Ojeda spends his summers managing farm operations from growing, to harvesting and pruning, to production, bottling and marketing.
A small gift shop offers soaps, balms and even lavender honey, all produced on-site. For a nominal parking fee, visitors can snap selfies that appear to be set in a fairy tale and cut aromatic bundles to carry home.
Located in Parkdale, the 28-acre growing operation cultivates 11 varieties of lavender and doubles as a day-trip destination between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Now imagine all of that as the foreground to an unobstructed vista of Mount Hood and you have Lavender Valley Farm. Many of the map’s destinations will guide you to luscious purple fields, saturated with a dizzying combination of floral perfume and bee hum. The Oregon Lavender Association lists 45 member farms, and even provides a map for “lavender tourism,” with destinations in northern, central and southern Oregon. The fragrant purple flower adapts well to the state’s moderate temperatures, sandy, well-drained soils and dry summers. So, it might not be a surprise that Oregon is among the top U.S.
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