OUR STORY
SALLY AND RALPH
When most people go on holiday they’re content with a T-shirt or a mug as a souvenir. But when we went on our honeymoon to the lavender fields of Provence in the summer of 2018, being slightly crazy people, we decided we needed to recreate it back home. So we bought some land and planted our very own lavender farm!
Ralph grew up gardening with his dad and has always been a skilled mechanic which has been invaluable with all our ever braking vintage machinery! Sally is a florist as well as running her own 'desk based' business (and therefore the business head!) So with a huge amount of hard work and perseverance, together with our mix of skills, we’re now fully immersed in farming life and ‘living the dream’.
THE LAVENDER
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After a lot of research, soil testing and sun watching, we were able to create our planting plan.
Spring 2021 - We began with 15 rows of Grosso (a lavandula x intermedia) This variety of lavender was first found growing in Provence and is now the most widely grown variety of lavender grown there so gives the authentic Provence experience that we wanted to bring to our farm.
Summer 2021 - In a separate area we planted the beginnings of our ombré lavender field with various varieties of lavandula angustifolia (commonly known as English lavender) ranging from purple to pink to white and then back through pink and purple again. The lavender in this area is grown for a mixture of purposes - essential oil production, dried bunches and culinary lavender.
Summer 2022 - Having seen that the Grosso was thriving, we planted our slope with 18 long rows of Grosso and Phenomenal (a similar variety to Grosso which is so far absolutely living up to its name). We will be harvesting this for both essential oil production and the dried buds this summer.
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Autumn 2022 - We planted our pink lavender field: an area of purely pink varieties of lavandula angustifolia. This lavender will predominantly be harvested for essential oil production, the pink lavender producing a lighter, sweeter smelling oil than its purple counterparts.
Summer 2023 - We’re extending our lavandula angustifolia field with more rows of the Folgate variety. Folgate retains its deep purple colour better than other varieties once dried so this will be used predominantly for lavender bunches.
THE NAME
We both love spending time outdoors, particularly in the French alps. Living in Hampshire, it just wouldn’t be practical to have our farm in the French alps (!) so we like to think of our sloping landscape as our own ‘little mountain’ and plan to add more alpine touches in the future.