Photograph courtesy Sunshine Acres
Culinary lavender is having a moment. While there’s nothing new about the use of this floral flavor in the kitchen, the purple-hued blooms are popping up on menus and in grocery aisles frequently these days, in everything from lattes to fruit preserves. And it makes perfect sense. Known for a calming effect due to the chemical compound linalool, the stress-reducing herb is particularly suited for history’s more chaotic eras. Besides, lavender just tastes good.
Photograph courtesy Sunshine Acres
While you may think of swaying fields of French lavender in the bucolic countryside of Provence, there are actually a handful of local farmers focused on growing it for culinary purposes. Jennifer Clarke of Sunshine Acres Lavender Farm in Morrow explains while technically all lavender varieties are safe to eat, Spanish lavenders commonly used in topical products contain camphor, which can impart a soapy, bitter taste. At Sunshine Acres, though, they’ve always grown a culinary-class variety cultivated from Lavandula angustifolia, or English lavender. It’s delicious to cook with and consume, which is why Clarke decided to go the culinary route.
“Most people, when they hear lavender, think of lavender essential oils and lavender lotion, which I enjoy,” she says. “I just don’t know how to make those things. I do love to cook—adjusting and finding recipes and making them my own—so I started making a lavender blueberry simple syrup and also whipped lavender honey butter.”
Photograph courtesy Sunshine Acres
Sunshine started 10 years ago when Clarke’s husband, Jeff, researched micro crops and found that lavender would be a good fit for their family’s seven unused acres. As full-time entrepreneurs in the wedding industry, the initial idea was to grow a fragrant herb for use in bouquets. But an on-site fund-raiser that featured a variety of lavender-based food and beverages raised community interest in the culinary uses of their crops, and people began asking to buy Clarke’s products. The family pivoted, renting a commercial kitchen to make a variety of tasty treats for sale at the farm store and online.
Photograph courtesy Adesso
The farm also sells lavender to a few local establishments, such as Adesso Coffee in Mason, where owner Chuck Pfalher uses the herb for a housemade syrup used in the coffeeshop’s lavender latte as well as cocktails. “Using local ingredients, like lavender, is part of a larger narrative to use local ingredients where we can,” he explains. “We don’t buy any bottles of syrup, and we don’t offer vanilla or caramel. It ends up being less expensive to make our own syrups, gives us that unique touch, and provides the satisfaction that we can support local.”
Photograph courtesy Adesso
Of course, agritourism is key to keeping operations going at a lavender farm. That’s definitely the case with Cedar Ridge Trails in Miamisburg, where cornerstone U-Pick days are supplemented by a range of food-focused classes and events, including picnics and culinary classes, many featuring notable Ohio chefs and experts, in addition to art, yoga, floral design, and aromatherapy classes.
Photograph courtesy Cedar Ridge Trails
Lindsey O’Donnell, who co-operates Cedar Ridge Trails on her parents’ farmland, explains that the lavender endeavor was inspired by photos she saw of similar ventures on the other side of the country. “We’d seen some lavender farms up in the Pacific Northwest, and thought, Oh my gosh, that would be so cool to be able to do that here in Ohio,” she recalls. “So we started learning all about lavender and things that you could do with it, like aromatherapy, distilling it into essential oils, and then opened up as a farm in 2020.”
O’Donnell is an enthusiastic advocate for using lavender in culinary pursuits, and Cedar Ridge Trails offers a handful of products, available at its farm store and online, such as dried culinary lavender, an herbs de Provence seasoning mix, and lavender-infused sugar.
Photograph courtesy Cedar Ridge Trails
Beyond the application in sweet dishes, lavender is also a versatile herb for use in a variety of dishes. “Any recipe that calls for rosemary in a savory dish, you can actually replace it with lavender,” says O’Donnell. “It’s part of the same family of herbs. Think like a lemon chicken with herbs de Provence. I like to pair that with some roasted veggies, lemon, and chicken. It’s a great summer dish.”
Photograph courtesy Cedar Ridge Trails
This versatility in the kitchen is key to Kelly Schauff’s appreciation of lavender, too. And as a farmer and owner of The Lavender Field in California, Kentucky, she has a lot to appreciate. “My mom had said she’d really like to just have some lavender to take care of on the property,” says Schauff. “I said, ‘Well, if you want to have lavender, let’s do a lavender field.’ ” In 2018, Schauff, her husband, and her mom planted 500 plants with no plan beyond personal enjoyment, but when an informal June 2020 U-Pick event drew far more than the handful of family and friends they’d expected, the idea of developing a business just made sense.
Photograph courtesy The Lavender Field
For anyone who’s still on the fence about culinary lavender, Schauff recommends lavender honey and lavender lemonade, both available in the farm store. Their online store also offers a variety of products, including lavender teas, lavender chocolate, and a gourmet flavor syrup.
“It is very earthy, you know? It’s not sweet,” she says. “It is kind of an unexpected flavor, that nice flavor profile. We actually sell a lavender cookbook here. There’s so many things you can put lavender in!”
Adesso, 125 E. Main St., Mason
Cedar Ridge Trails, 5388 Medlar Rd., Miamisburg
The Lavender Field, 3629 Smith Rd., California, KY
Sunshine Acres, 2471 Moore-Saur Rd., Morrow
Grow Your Own
English lavender grows great here in Cincinnati’s zone 6b climate, so if you’re considering growing culinary lavender at home, here are some tips for getting started:
- Look for Lavandula angustifolia, which yields the best tasting herb for kitchen use.
- Lavender likes full sun, so choose a well-lit area of the yard for lavender.
- Stay away from soggy areas of the garden, as lavender prefers well-drained soil.
- English lavender reaches peak bloom in early to mid-summer. Enjoy the lovely color and prune in August once flowers start to gray.
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