The lavender grown at our farm is Lavendula angustifolia (Buena vista), which is a true French lavender variety developed by Oregonian Dr. Don Roberts.  It was developed for its superior bouquet and deep super blue color.

Our fields are managed using sustainable, non-pesticide, non-herbicide agricultural practices. We are in the process of applying for organic certification of our field crops.

The essential of lavender is extracted using steam to liberate the volatile oils.  The steam is fed from the boiler into distillation bins.  The bins have tubing at the bottom with small holes which allow the steam to rise through the cut flowers and stems, known as the charge.  The steam rises through the charge releasing both the volatile oils and non-volatile plant water constituents.

The vapor then rises to the top of the bin and exits through piping which feeds to the cooling condenser.  Like a chiller used in brewing, cold water flows through concentrated tubing to transfer the heat away from the vapor. The cooling effect returns the vapors to a liquid state.

The liquid then flows from the condenser and into a separator.   The separator is designed to allow the essential oil, which in the case of lavender is lighter than water.  The essential oil rises to the top where it is drawn off.  The distillate water, also known as  hydrosol flows from the bottom of the separator where only the water has dropped.