By Betsy Finklea
Experiencing life on the lavender farm. This is how several participants spent part of their Saturday during Agape Farm South’s first ever Herbs, Blends, and Bouquets event on Saturday, June 28th.
Participants enjoyed sipping lavender lemonade, eating cookies with lavender sprinkles, mixing tea ingredients, and arranging and making their own bouquets all while learning about the origins of the farm, lavender, and other natural ingredients.
Upon signing in, participants were given a glass of lavender lemonade to enjoy.
There were three stations set up for the experience–the first was learning about lavender with Alex, a tea mixing station, and a flower arranging station. There were also vendors with goods for sale.
At the first station where participants learned about lavender and the farm, each participant was given a cooling mist spray consisting of peppermint and lavender and got to enjoy cookies sprinkled with lavender during the presentation.
Located on Sagebrush Drive in Dillon County, the farm consists of 2 1/2 acres of land and 12 acres of woods. Alex Reid, one of the owners of the farm, said during the presentation at the first station that they have “fallen in love with it.”
The name Agape came from a tv commercial and was chosen because it means the highest form of love. She believes in nature and has the highest respect for it. She said the forest at the farm is a living, breathing healthy ecosystem. Many things can be found growing naturally in the forest including elderberry, sassafras, wild blueberry, muscadine grapes, oaks which produce acorns, American persimmon, American beautyberry, Southern hackberry, Pignut hickory, St. John’s Wort, Sweetgum, and many more. She has discovered over 100 different plants in just seven acres of the woods. She said there are just a bounty of things to enjoy in the forest.
Reid said when she got into this she had a romanticized view of farming. She said the soil at the farm has been traditionally farmed. She said they want to be good stewards of the land and wanted to put in a perennial while the soil regains its health. She looked a lavender because it is disease resistant, and this is what she decided on. She grows 150 lavender plants at a time. She currently has two fields. The middle field is a hybrid variety that has to be propagated. In a couple of years, a third field will be put in. She said the deer step all over the plants and create other problems, but they are okay living with the deer for now.
The blooming season for lavender is in the spring.
Reid also has an orchard which has apples, peaches, hazelnuts, bananas, and more. This year will be their first harvest from the orchard.
Reid said she fell in love with herbs when she started learning about lavender including medicinal herbs. As part of their farm, they also have Agape Lavender Lab, which features various products made from lavender. These are research-inspired products.
After learning about the farm, participants went to the tea station where they became blendologists, sniffing different ingredients to see if this was something they wanted in their tea and creating their own blends. There were also directions to mix tried and true blends that addressed various issues such as elderberry for colds, lavender for sleep, and ginger for nausea. They learned that this “tea” was actually an herbal infusion drink that they were creating using roots, spices, flowers, and trees. The drinks were not caffeinated.
After mixing, blending, and naming their “tea” creations, participants headed over to the flower station where there were live and dried flowers to make bouquets and flower arrangements. Participants were also invited to go cut fresh lavender from the field. Each participant made their own unique arrangements from the abundant flowers at the station.
After completing all of the stations, participants left with a bag full of goodies that they had created and anticipation about the next experiential event at the farm.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Betsy Finklea/The Dillon County News, LLC
