As lavender blooms through the summer, farmers have been working year-round to make the experience and products worth visiting each year in Sequim.

“People will often ask, ‘What do you do in the offseason?’ said Kristy Hilliker, co-owner of B&B Family Farm, 5883 Old Olympic Highway, Sequim. “We’re never bored. There’s always something to do.”

Many lavender farms, like hers, are open throughout the summer offering U-pick lavender, various locally-made lavender products, and eye-catching photo-ops perfect for social media.

“We’re working every single day, seven days a week for all those months,” Hilliker said of B&B, open May 1-Sept. 30.

That can mean processing dried lavender in September, trimming plants for a “Halloween haircut” in and around October, and making and shipping products all year long.

Late spring, before the hustle and bustle of the tourist season, is a good time to catch up on making products because there won’t be much time in the summer, Hilliker said.

“The longer I’ve been doing it, the more I know what we’ll need,” she said.

Paul and Jordan Schiefen, owners of Jardin du Soleil Lavender Farm, 3932 Sequim Dungeness Way, Sequim, agree with that sentiment saying they have a good grasp on when to make and restock their big sellers aside from huge jumps in demand, i.e. lavender hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s consistent,” Paul Schiefen said. “For the most part, we know what needs to be made.”

Spring has already been busy for the Schiefens as they opened Jardin du Soleil daily in April and are the only farm so far to stay open weekends in the winter.

“(Visitors aren’t) coming expecting it to be in bloom yet,” Jordan Schiefen said. “Customers are understanding of that.”

“They want to know the process,” Paul Schiefen said.

That can mean everything from harvesting to distilling to distribution.

Hilliker said she anticipates lavender being in bloom in most fields from late June-August, and they’ll begin distilling oils late summer.

At B&B they want to teach “the ins and outs of lavender farming,” she said as they offer summer tours every 30 minutes of the farm. Knowing that process helps instill familiarity and a closeness to lavender that might bring them back or to shop online from a local farm, Hilliker added.

Behind the scenes

Come summer, lavender farms are in prime shape and ready for visitors. Getting there though takes a lot of effort with making products, cleaning up, and “Halloween haircuts” for lavender plants. Paul Schiefen says they leave about 1-inch of that year’s growth per stem going into winter.

Come winter, the holiday shopping season has farmers filling orders and shipping across the globe.

“Online is big for us,” the Schiefens say.

Through the winter and spring, farmers like at Jardin du Soleil will do a lot of event planning, fixing equipment, painting, and scheduling vendors, events and musicians.

At B&B, Hilliker said their winter is focused on maintenance, too, like building an extension to hang lavender to dry.

Some farmers have also taken on beekeeping duties, such as B&B, with owners learning the ins and outs of keeping their hives buzzing and lavender thriving.

One of the hardest parts of farming — weeding — is turned into a party — A Weeding Party — at Jardin du Soleil. The Schiefens said everything grows so quickly in April and May that they try to keep up with it on their own, and in April they invite 20-30 friends over to help them. They in turn feed them for their welcomed efforts.

New in the field

That camaraderie among friends and neighbors is something sisters Vera Uy and Gretchen Uy-Millare have found while helping their mom Aida Uy at her Fat Cat Garden & Gifts, 21 Fat Cat Lane, Sequim.

Aida purchased the farm two-plus years ago during the pandemic, and her husband Houston, passed away last year, so it’s been a family effort to help keep Fat Cat growing.

While they’ve done some backyard farming where they lived in the Philippines, Los Angeles, Calif., and Diamond Point, it’s taken a lot of time, research and patience, said Gretchen, who maintains a full-time online billing job.

She’s done countless hours of research learning about seeds and climate in recent years.

They continue to consult with Victor Gonzalez with Victor’s Lavender Farm, neighbor Lavender Connection (Rebecca Olson), and members of the Sequim Lavender Growers Association, such as Kitty B’s Lavender Farm.

“We don’t have all the machinery yet, so they’ve been a big help,” Vera said.

The sisters say owning the farm was their parents’ dream as Aida enjoys watering the plants, and now Vera has found that to be her “end-of-the-day therapy” too, while Gretchen finds solace in the greenhouse.

“If I get overwhelmed with work, I just go plant whatever seed in the soil. It’s like a break for me,” she said.

In the winter, Gretchen said she was in the greenhouse everyday because with seeds, “you have to baby them” and with the farm featuring both flowers, lavender, and produce (apples, cherries and plums), there’s a lot to prepare for.

The sisters said they look to replace 30-year-old lavender plants this year and add a larger lavender drying area, greenhouse space, and drip irrigation throughout the farm.

Lavender they planted two years ago should be ready for U-pick this summer, Gretchen said, and the farm is planted so different varieties should bloom in different photogenic areas through the summer.

For more about these farms and the many others in the Sequim area, visit sequimlavender.org and sequimlavendergrowers.com.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash / Gretchen Uy-Millare prunes some Spanish lavender at Fat Cat Garden & Gifts. She and her family help her mother Aida cultivate the farm for summer visitors.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash / Lavender planted two years ago at Fat Cat Garden & Gifts is just the beginning of what family members have planned for expanding lavender offerings in the coming years, they say.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash / Lavender bath bombs are packaged for sale at B&B Family Farm. Co-owner Kristy Hilliker said as the years go by, she’s been able to tell what they need to make for online sales and in-person.