The Kentucky Lavender Farm You Need to Know About

Down a gravel road just off Highway 39 in Somerset, Kentucky, there sits a small lavender farm run by Allison Horseman and her mother, Mary May. Since 2013, Allison and Mary May have been living and breathing lavender. Each year, they open Woodstock Lavender Co. to the public for a limited time, offering teas, classes, and “you-cut” opportunities, allowing guests to pick their own lavender bunches to take home. During the off-season, the mother-daughter duo invents new and exciting lavender creations with their harvest.

Meet Allison and Mary May, and learn all about the farm’s offerings!

“We didn’t have a long-term plan,” Allison says, “but [the farm] was born out of a love for agriculture, our family’s history in agriculture, and a desire — as a woman — to do something different with the land that would honor my agricultural roots.”

She explains that she and her husband moved to their Somerset house in 2011. A few years later, they were given the opportunity to buy a portion of her grandparents’ farm, which would make her the fourth generation to live on the property.

Allison knew she wanted to do something with the land but had no interest in traditional farming. “Mom saw the idea for growing lavender in a cookbook,” she recalls, adding that when she initially considered the concept, it seemed doable.

After some research and a visit to another Kentucky lavender farm, Allison purchased 50 lavender plants from a local nursery and planted them behind her house. “It sort of fueled our fire and passion,” she says, “and we have grown, learned, and expanded ever since.”

It’s a family affair. When guests visit, Allison’s son, Ian, checks them in as they drive onto the property. Her daughter, Lydia, welcomes them into the barn with a cold glass of lavender lemonade. Allison or Mary then offer a short lavender tutorial so people can harvest their own picks. The entire operation seems like a well-oiled family machine, but growing lavender in the Bluegrass isn’t an effortless task, and Allison is working hard to make the process easier.

“We work with Virginia Tech, Clemson, and the University of Kentucky to do research on growing lavender in [this] climate,” she says. “[Kentucky] is a really poor place to grow lavender on a commercial scale. … Hopefully, the research we are doing will contribute to developing a new type of lavender that can better withstand our wet and humid climate — or will even just make it easier for lavender growers 20 years from now.”

Until that day, Allison and her mother, who call themselves the “keepers of the lavender,” plan to continue opening the farm to guests every year from the end of May through June. They spend the rest of the year creating their lavender-infused goodies, from body oil and bar soap to tea and syrup.

“We try to make sure that people get to experience culinary lavender in some form or fashion when they’re here on the farm,” Allison says. When guests come to cut their own bunches, for example, they can also pre-order a meat and cheese box, assorted dessert box, or picnic lunch box. Each one features something that has been infused with lavender from the farm, whether it’s a lemon tart or biscuit jam.

When the farm is closed to the public, select lavender goodies can be purchased online à la carte or through their monthly subscription box, The Purple Spoon. The curated boxes boast ready-to-use culinary lavender creations like honey, hot chocolate, or spices; accompanying recipes; farmhouse-style textiles; and access to live cooking demonstrations with Allison and Mary.

“Lavender is so delicious in food if you use it the right way,” Allison says. “I wanted to give people an excuse to try something different. We try to make it super easy.”

Woodstock Lavender Co. also offers a non-subscription box, which comes out quarterly and primarily features bath and body products. “We try to feature at least one to two female entrepreneurs that are local crafters in those boxes,” Allison says, adding that supporting and being part of the community is equally as important as running the farm. In fact, the name Woodstock Lavender Co. is an ode to the area.

“The little community we live in is called Woodstock,” Allison explains. “That was intentional because these little map-dot towns across Kentucky that aren’t even towns anymore sometimes can be forgotten — so we were able to pay homage to a small town in Kentucky through our name.”

Though Woodstock Lavender Co. is a growing business, and Allison appreciates every person who has visited the farm and supported them along the way, she stresses that she keeps it going for the love of the craft and the process. The best part of it all, she says, has been working with her mom.

“We have been able to see each other in different roles,” she says. “We have very different strengths that we bring to the table and the business. [I’ve loved] creating memories with her. We don’t make a lot of money, but I think my kids have been able to see what hard work looks like [and] what diversity in agriculture looks like. And I think that if our plants all died tomorrow, we would still consider this business a success because we’ve been able to do something different as women in agriculture. [We’ve been able to] bring attention to diverse crops and diverse farms, and do something that we love together.”

All photography courtesy of Woodstock Lavender Co. unless otherwise noted.

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