06/15/2026
Great post from a fellow glutton for punishment. For us at OSF, we had our best season in 2024 (by a lot) followed by two years in a row of a lot of heart break. Too bad the weeds didn't have a rough spring, too 😅
The road map may look a little different and achieving our goals is delayed... but all I can say for certain is that I AM NOT GIVING UP.
Your Lavender made it through winter but took a hit in the spring........Let's talk about it.
The more we get to know folks in the tightknit lavender farming community, the more we find it's made up of kind passionate people who are walking out a dream that is usually deeply seeded💜✨️ Although plant losses in the field are part of farming, let's acknowledge the fact that its super discouraging. Many lavender farmers had another rough winter and those that made it though winter, had a rough spring.We are not exempt. Our field was looking great post winter but spring took a toll.
A fellow farmer and owner of One-derings Lavender spoke to a professor at a university who summed it up as a loss of energy stores due to spring temperature swings. We took a deep dive so we can better understand what is happening & share it with you👇
It the summer leaves make sugars via photosynthesis and temperatures cool and fall approaches, lavender carbohydrates for winter i the roots, crown and woody stem. It's important to understand that different temperatures spur on different growth patterns. Below 40° plants go dormant. 55 - 60° plants start to come out of hibernation. 60 - 75° plants push foliage growth. 75 - 85° + longer daylight plants push blooms.
Over the past several years Michigan and many other states are seeing very wonky spring weather patterns with huge temperature swings. While a weather pattern of 75° in March feels good....it also signals the plant to come out of dormancy which uses a TON of energy via the stored carbohydrates. Then next week, temps plunge back into the 20s, which signals dormancy. Repeat this several times and it not only uses up the energy stores, it becomes a pattern of stress. Much like The Giving Tree, once the carbohydrate stores are used up, there is nothing left to give towards coming out of "true dormancy". Sections or the whole plant can die off.
How to improve carbohydrate stores in our plants. Proper irrigation post harvest. Harvest itself creates a stess on the plant and doing it in a drought like last year. A light feeding post harvest (depends on soil). Some control temp swings by covering their plants. Our goal is to continually strive to become better lavender farmers and lavender grower. We want to add value to become a trusted resource for our customers. As we learn, we'll be sharing it with ya'll. We want the lavender in our fields and yours to thrive 💜
