Shop Local: Local Lavender Farm encourages consumers to discover the ‘versatility of lavender’

MORRIS – After her full-time job in retail began downsizing, Maggie Smith turned to her love of gardening, a passion she inherited from her family, into a business.

“I have always been around gardeners; we lived on 52 acres of a property when I was little. I roamed and explored a lot. It was always a part of my background,” Smith said.

In 2012, she established Nettle Creek Lavender Farm after looking into the versatility of lavender and discovering there is more to it than just its “beauty and its scent.”

“I knew lavender was always really pretty and I really liked it, but I didn’t realize it had so much versatility,” Smith said.

After researching and creating different products, she turned their 4-acre yard into a specialty farm, cultivating various herbs, fruits, and flowers, including, of course, lavender.

A wooden farm stand in the front of the property, sells a variety of goods, mainly created from the flowers and herbs grown on the farm, including fresh-cut lavender, candles, essential oils, containers for picking your own flowers, handmade crochet bees, and honey during the spring and summer seasons.

“We are normally sell out of honey before Christmas every year,” Smith said.

The farm stand is run on an honor system and is open from April to October, and then once a month, hours can be found at facebook.com/nclavenderfarm.

The products Smith sells at her farm stand have become favorites at local garden shows and farmers’ markets. Smith even has her own booth at True North, a local vintage and home decor store in Morris.

Nettle Creek Lavender Farm also offers a variety of workshops, farm tours, and event rentals.

“We offer tours for single people during open house hours; we have done large corporate retreats and garden clubs,” Smith said. “We host a lot of tutorial classes, hosted at both the farm and out in the community.

Business Development Director Julie Wilkinson said the hands-on workshops and farm stand draws many visitors to the community throughout the spring and summer.

“It’s not unusual to see their natural products offered at farmer’s markets and retail stores. Their business model fits the trend of experiential consumption that continues to grow post-pandemic, and it’s great to see their success,” she said.

Nettle Creek also offers bouquet subscriptions, for those who want to have fresh flowers in the spring and summer, The prices range from $50 to $200 and they offer mini bouquets, which Smith said would be perfect for teachers’ desks or dining room tables.

“It’s very reasonable to buy for eight weeks, so it’s every other week. I did it every other week because usually when you get flowers that are freshly picked they are going to last a lot longer than a week,” Smith said.

Nettle Creek will be applying for a special use permit in order to continue hosting workshops, U-Pick, yoga, and photo shoots for special occasions.

“Our hope is that the community and county will see the benefits our farm can have to the community and approve the permit so we can continue to grow and serve our visitors,” Smith said.

The public hearing for the Zone of Appeals will be on April 18, at 7 p.m., for those who wish to attend.

For information on Nettle Creek Lavender Farm, visit www.nettlecreeklavenderfarm.com.

For the farm’s hours and schedule of events, visit www.facebook.com/nclavenderfarm/.