Okanagan Lavender & Herb Farm

Summer cabins.....where magical memories take place.⁠
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The excitement of arriving ~ pushing open windows, letting fresh air into your special space...⁠
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I love to turn on my diffuser to freshen up the air...a little water and a splash of hydrosol 💦 ⁠
⁠..my favourite? Lemon Verbena...fresh, bright and citrus.... 🍋⁠
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Sometimes the smallest rituals are the ones that make a place feel like home.⁠
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Whether you're opening the cabin for the weekend, welcoming guests, or simply enjoying a quiet evening, a hydrosol diffuser is a beautiful way to begin.⁠
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A little water.⁠
A little hydrosol.⁠
A slower pace.

Harvest Journal l July 8⁠
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I've always admired the painting, *The Harvesters* by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.⁠
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It shows farm workers resting beneath a tree in the middle of harvest. Their lunch sits beside them. The fields still stretch out ahead.⁠
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Every summer, as we cut lavender by hand with the same sickles, I find myself thinking about that painting.⁠
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Every harvest asks the same things of us - Patience. Strength. Endurance.⁠
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I love this childhood photograph of my son, carefully placing freshly cut bundles of lavender onto the table.⁠
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It looks timeless.⁠
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Almost exactly the way we'd like to imagine harvests 💜⁠
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The lavender has spent an entire season reaching this point, and we spend a few intense days harvesting it.⁠
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The still is packed with blooms, the steam begins the transformation, and we have the privilege of watching the distillation process.⁠
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It's my favourite part of the season because we get to witness something that still feels a little like magic. ✨

One of the quirks of 🇨🇦 Canada Day falling mid-week is that everyone seems to create their own long weekend 🌿

If you're spending sometime exploring beautiful Kelowna, we'd love to help you discover a few places where you can find our handcrafted botanical products.

You'll find us at:
🌿 Quails' Gate Winery
🌿 The Green Vanity
🌿 Unhinged Lifestyle Boutique
🌿 Lucky Bamboo World Market
🌿 The Cannery at the Delta Grand Hotel

While many people are surprised to learn that our lavender farm isn't open to visitors, we've been an online-only business since 2020 🌿
We continue to grow, harvest, distill and handcraft everything here on the farm, but all orders are placed through our website and local pickups are available by appointment.

A quick note for our local customers: our family will be away on Friday, July 4 and Saturday, July 5, so we won't be able to accommodate curbside pickups on those two days. If you'd like to pick up an order before or after the weekend, we're happy to arrange an appointment.
Wishing everyone a safe, relaxing and joyful Canada Day holiday!

Thank you for supporting Canadian small businesses and family farms—it truly means the world to us. ❤️🍁

This morning started a little differently than we planned.

At 5:00 a.m. I headed out to water the greenhouses and was greeted by a small pond. An irrigation line had broken overnight.

Thankfully, I know how to shut off the main line 😉

By 7:00 a.m., my husband arrived, looked at the situation and said, "We'll need two shovels."

So... our Father's Day breakfast date quickly turned into an excavation project.

As we dug down searching for the breaks, I couldn't help but laugh. It reminded me of when our kids were little and spent hours digging leprechaun traps around the farm every March.

Turns out all those years ago they were simply training us for irrigation repairs.

That's farming.

Plans change.
Breakfast can wait.
The plants still need water.

Happy Father's Day to the guy who always shows up with a shovel, solves the problem, and never complains (well... almost never 😉).

We hope all the wonderful dads out there have a beautiful day.

Apparently, "Happy Father's Day" is farming's way of saying, "Here's a shovel" 😅

There is much time for thinking on a farm.

It is a place where urgency can erupt without warning and change the course of the day, yet most days are filled with the repetition of ordinary tasks... Weeding. Harvesting. Watering. Watching.

At times, it feels like a small window into life before technology—a pace set by the rhythm of the earth.

This week we've been harvesting roses in the early mornings while the birds are at their busiest. Their songs overlap one another as they move through the hedgerows and fields.

One of my favourites is the kildeer.

Each spring they choose the most improbable place to build nests - out in the open field, sheltered by little more than a few stones. Every time we work nearby, we give them a wide berth, hoping they will succeed once again.

And somehow, every year, they do.

Yesterday, we became parents again ourselves

Our first quail hatched 💖

They are impossibly tiny and wonderfully complete, emerging into the world already knowing to run for cover, to listen for the gentle chirping calls of their parents, and to follow.

Listen to nature, it offers wisdom.

When I read Sitting Bull's words, I don't think only of children. I think about what we choose to leave behind for every living thing that shares this small piece of earth with us.

Everything we do creates ripples.

Perhaps our task is simply to make those ripples a little gentler—to listen more carefully, to disturb a little less, and to care well for the places we are fortunate enough to steward.

Whether it is a farm, a garden, or a small corner of our own backyard, each of us is only a temporary guardian.

What kind of life will we help create for those who come after us?

A still may appear industrial, but the process speaks to the art, the science and the magic of plants.

Long before modern equipment, distillers were capturing the fragrance of flowers in simple clay vessels and copper alembics. Eventually, the 11th C Persian physician, Avicenna, perfects the process of distillation.

Every year, baskets of freshly harvested roses are harvested on our farm. Their petals soft as velvet in your hands.

Their fragrance is something else entirely.

Invisible.

Fleeting.

Intoxicating.

Impossible to hold.

With steam and water, a remarkable transformation occurs. The essence of the rose is lifted from the petals and carried through the still. The invisible aroma captured in the emerging hydrosol.

Art + Science = Magic

....roses, the most beautiful harvest 🌸

Rose water distillation process on our farm.🌹 #nature #roses #farming #naturalbeauty For a few short weeks each year, the roses take centre stage.Fres...

Rose harvest begins early.
Before the heat settles in.
Before the day becomes loud.

The petals feel like velvet between your fingers 🌸 soft, cool, impossibly fragrant.

The bees hum around you.
Birds call from the trees.
Sometimes the thorns catch your sleeves, your hair, your skin…ouch!

Some mornings we gather petals for tea.
Other mornings, baskets are filled for the still room.

And somewhere in the rhythm of picking, a kind of peace settles over everything.

It is our favourite harvest of the year.

In search of your next signature summer scent? 🌷This is your sign.

Our Bloom Perfume Balm brings the essence of soft lavender, dreamy florals, warm skin, and a little bit of sunshine ☀️