HAMILTON, Ohio – A large lavender farm is taking shape on 50 acres in Ross, Ohio. White Barn and Blooms Lavender Farm and Venue, owned by Glenda and Jamie Couch, opened this month. They are bringing in Victor Gonzalez, called “the Father of Lavender,” from Sequim, Wash., to work with them.

The Couches wanted to do something different, something besides corn and beans on their land. Three years ago, they began searching and came up with lavender. Since then, they have planted 20,000 lavender plants on their farm. By hand.

“All of the lavender farms we visited, I heard of a guy named Victor,” Jamie said. “He has been all over the world, dealing with lavender in other countries; even for our government, they have sent him all over. He travels around the world giving lectures, and he has taught about lavender at universities.”

So, the couple traveled to Sequim, nicknamed the “Capital of Lavender,” to meet Gonzalez, and they hit it off right away. They enticed him to come to Ohio to help design their fields. But first, he gave them homework.

“We had to do research on a 10-year weather pattern, how much humidity, rain, snow, how hot it was,” Glenda said. “We had to get all of this before we could start. There are almost 4,000 or more varieties of lavender. When he came, we gave him all of the reports. He decided there are 14 kinds of lavender (we could grow here), but we still are kind of experimenting with what will grow here and what will not.”

Gonzalez surveyed and designed the fields, Jamie said. There are lots of varieties of lavender and lots of ways to lay them out. The trio is watching to see what varieties of lavender grow best in which areas.

“We were also practicing on how to actually trim, and cut, and harvest the plants, when to do it, how low to cut them,” Jamie said. “There are so many different factors that can affect lavender. Right now, we are still in that experimenting stage.

“We just changed some of the lavender, because up here by the barn (the event center) we want to extend the blooming season by three months,” he explained. “So now we are experimenting with how to keep blooms for a longer period of time.”

Eventually, after several trips back and forth to Washington, the Couches bought Gonzalez’s Washington farm, and convinced him to move to Ohio permanently, Jamie said.

“We are going to keep the farm in Washington going to support the West Coast,” he explained. “We will keep that farm running by the people he has trained for the past 20-some years. This farm will support about half of the United States and probably up into Canada.”

Growing and producing lavender products takes a lot of knowledge, Jamie said. It’s like an ongoing science project. They can produce about 200 small-batch products from the lavender, and they are constantly experimenting with that.

A retail shop will feature the lavender products, including essential oils, spa and body care, culinary blends, home goods, gift sets and honey. It will be open during farm hours.

But first, those 20,000 plants had to be planted. They mounded the dirt, put down rows of plastic, then cut holes in the plastic for the plants. Glenda got burn marks on her legs from crawling along the plastic to put the plants in the holes.

This year they are going to harvest the lavender by hand. But eventually they will use a harvester, somewhat but not quite, like a combine. It will cut and shape the plant, and then it shoots everything back into a big bag, ready for processing. Even the stems can be used for starting campfires. The aroma is pleasant and helps keep bugs away.

Along the way, the Couches brought on Dan Diersing, AKA “Dan the Bee Man,” because honey will be one of their big products. Bees love lavender. So do butterflies and other pollinators. And they aren’t using any chemicals.

“We started with five bee hives, but we will eventually have 150,” Glenda said. “When we started seeing things here like the bees, the numbers are growing. There are a lot of butterflies out there. The only things that like lavender are bees, butterflies and people. It’s in the mint family, so ticks don’t like it, mosquitoes don’t like it.”

Also, the Couches and Gonzalezr want to educate people about lavender. One goal for the event center is education. Brooke Rack, managing director of the farm, said they plan on hosting an international lavender conference. There will be classes of all types.

“We plan on partnering with a couple of universities in Ohio,” Jamie said. “Victor has already partnered with universities in the west. We can continue with research with the universities to educate young people in agriculture programs. This is not just a venue for events and parties. Its main use is for education.”

For information, visit whitebarnandblooms.com.