FESTIVAL UPDATE!

We are three weeks away from our third annual Summer Solstice Lavender Festival!   We have many updates on events and activities to share with you:

FREE OUTDOOR YOGA:  Instructors from Main Street Yoga and Wellness Studio will be leading free yoga classes in the lavender fields from 2:30 to 3:30 both Saturday and Sunday.  Adults and Kids welcome to participate!

FACEPAINTING: Professional facepainters will be on hand Saturday and Sunday creating complete face designs of any animal or character!  Check out photos of their awesome work online.

MUSIC: We are excited to host Douglas Blue Feather, Internationally known performer of Native American flute music.  He will be playing from 2-3 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.  Rob Stuckert of Clinton County Live will be at the festival all weekend sharing his awesome musical talents.

FOOD: General Denver has confirmed to cater our event!  We are huge fans of their food, and can't wait to try the many edible lavender creations that will be prepared by the incredible Chef Jennifer Purkey and her staff.  On the menu this year will be lavender chicken salad on crossiant, lavender lemonade, lavender desserts, and many other festival grill items. 

TAI CHI:  Our regularly scheduled tai chi class will be held on the farm at the festival on Sunday!  Class will be held in a private setting on the farm at 3:30 p.m., led by instructor Dave Crowell. 3:30 p.m.  $15 registration.

See you at the 3rd Annual Summer Solstice Lavender Festival June 18-19!  Tell your friends and family, this is an event that you absolutely cannot miss!  Click here for complete event information, RSVP to our Facebook Event Page, and register here for our workshops!

Wellness Studio welcomes new Massage Therapist to staff

Peaceful Acres Wellness Studio is pleased to announce the addition of Tabitha Speiaght, Licensed Massage Therapist, to its staff.   Tabitha is a 2008 graduate of the Dayton School of Medical Massage and received her State License for Massage Therapy in 2009.  She specializes in Deep Tissue and Swedish Massage, as well as Trigger Point Therapy and Positional Release.  Visit Tabitha's profile to learn more about the services she offers.

The Wellness Studio now has both male and female Massage Therapists on staff.  Tabitha is available for walk-ins on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the studio from 11-6 pm.  To schedule a session, fill out our online form or call us at the studio at 937-488-0006.

Rain, rain, go away!

Rain, rain, go away, if not, the lavender will not stay! I hate rhymes, but with all this rain it feels like a never ending life in Washington state where they receive over 150 days of rain a year. I always wondered how they grow lavender in Sequim, Washington. It must be the elevation and location to the coast that keeps the rain inland more. As for our wet Ohio, this is the first time in  more than 5 years that I can remember a true April rainy season. That's the least I can say, we actually are way above our records and the lavender fields are feeling the challenge.

As some of you know, lavender does not like wet feet/roots. And with all this rain, we are keeping our fingers crossed and sending dry warm energy to our lavender fields. Our two ½ acre plots are two years apart while our oldest field is going on its fourth year. Root rot is the disease we are trying to avoid and as of now (knock on wood) we have avoided such damage and disease. Only the ice has affected our production killing nearly 200 plants in our fields. That’s a 10% loss in 4 years.

This year Peaceful Acres was approved for a SARE (Sustainable Agricultural Research Grant) which funds us to research better ways to help increase production in Ohio. With this backing by SARE and the dedication of our farm staff members and volunteers we will better understand how to avoid wet and icy weather. How will we do this? By utilizing different soil amendments to drain water from our raised and flat beds.  We will also utilize low hoop house tunnels during the winter and rainy season to avoid as mush moisture as possible. We believe with our research efforts we will be able to collect enough data to help other farms in the areas grow this healing crop.

In the long run the idea is to feed off our current production and determine a feasible way to extract oil in Ohio using oil producing lavender varieties. As of now these Lavundin oil varieties will not live long enough to produce oil over the plant’s 8-10 year perennial commercial cycle. When our research is complete we will have answers on how to help produce lavender commercially in Ohio. Being Ohio’s largest lavender farm we hope others can achieve the same goals we have set forth. And that would be producing a high income, low acreage crop of lavender.

Like we always say,

Peace, Love and Lavender!