FAQ
Our Most frequent questions and answers
The Farmhouse at Lavender Hill Farm is now open year-round! This includes our Farmhouse Boutique and new Copper Room used for workshops, events and private rentals. The 2024 summer season at Lavender Hill Farm will begin on May 10 and will last through October 27. During this time, our farm will be open to the public seven days a week from 10am to 5pm. We will be closed on July 4th. We are excited to share another season filled with more ways to experience the lavender! Our farm is FREE to visit during our summer season operational hours of 10am – 5pm, seven days a week. Guests are welcome to explore our entire property including walking trails, gardens, labyrinth, farmhouse boutique, events barn, and rolling hills of lavender. Check out our full events calendar and follow us on Facebook. We are looking forward to your visit!
Any day we are open is a great time to visit the farm! We have an entire summer season (May 10, 2024 – October 27, 2024) packed with fun events and activities for the whole family to enjoy. Visit our events calendar to learn more about how to participate. Each month brings exciting new changes to our farm- and because of our location in Northern Michigan, every year varies as well! Here is what you might see happing in our fields depending on when you visit:
May– Lavender fields are getting prepped for the season. Our green houses are bursting with baby lavender plants ready to be sold in our annual plant sale or to be added to our farm. Our landscaping and gardens are feeling lots of love as our team prepares them for a season of public viewing.
June– Lavender plugs are getting added to our new and existing plots. School is out and farm activities are keeping visitors engaged. Lavender fields are turning a brighter shade of green. Beautification projects continue across the property, and as the month grows, our lavender plants begin to bloom.
July- Lavender is blooming and the farm is at its most colorful month. Honeybees happily buzz near purple blooms and our events calendar is bursting with something every day and every night. Our team has begun harvesting the early bloomer varieties and our copper still is getting fired up to start making lavender essential oils and hydrosol. U-Cut experiences begin after peak bloom is reached. Live music graces our fields, and the opening of our new stem bar is expected this month.
August- Lavender is being hand harvested across the entire farm. Stop by our drying shed where thousands of bunches will be hung, bloom side down, on long ropes gently swaying in the summer breeze. The aroma from our still house can be noticed from the parking area and near the end of the month, our blooming sunflowers attract visitors and photographers to the highest peaks of the property.
September– Fall activities captivate visitors as our sunflowers become the farms focal point. The anticipated Sunflower Festival steals the attention from our busy field workers, hand trimming each lavender plant into perfect round domes.
October– Fall color seeps into the landscape as the temperature begins to drop. The Boyne area is a popular destination on Fall Color trails for good reason. Red and golden hues in the distance accentuate the beauty of our century old events barn. We cannot wait to see you at the farm this year.
It is a great time to visit the farm any day from May 12 through late October from 10am – 5pm. However, we understand why many of our guests are interested in planning a visit during peak bloom. If you are familiar with Northern Michigan, you know that our weather is not always predictable, and weather determines our blooming schedule. For the best chance to catch our farm in its fullest bloom, we suggest planning a visit for July, however, our blooming period could start in June and last through August. Check out our full events calendar at Farm Events Calendar – Lavender Hill Farm and follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LavenderHillFarmMichigan/ where we share bloom updates on our story throughout the season!
The new Farmhouse is OPEN!
We encourage visitors to photograph our farm but ask you to review our photography policy before visiting and kindly ask that you tag us in any photos on social media AND use our hashtags #LHFarm and #TheSeriesatLHF Photography Policy: https://lavenderhillfarm.com/photography/ Photo Gallery: https://lavenderhillfarm.com/photo-gallery/
We love having photographers visit our farm. Photography Policy: https://lavenderhillfarm.com/photography/ Photo Gallery: https://lavenderhillfarm.com/photo-gallery/ If you are familiar with Northern Michigan, you know that our weather is not always predictable. If you are interested in taking photos at our farm while our lavender is in bloom, we suggest planning a visit for July. You can find a month by month of what to expect to see at our farm in the “When is a good timet o visit?” question above, but keep in mind, mother nature may have other plans! Follow along on our Instagram and Facebook Stories to see bloom updates throughout the season. We take many steps to extend the photography window at our farm. By strategically planting gardens and sunflowers with complementary blooming periods, we enhance our farms natural beauty throughout the season. Delayed harvesting in select areas allows photographers, visitors, and honeybees to enjoy the purple blooms later in the year. In addition to the plants at our farm, our historical barn, and other structures are rustically elegant and perfect for back drops and focal points depending on your photography mission. Check out photos shared on our Facebook, Instagram and using the hashtag #LHFarm to see what others have shared. We are looking forward to your visit!
Yes! Every year we hold our Annual Plant Sale in May where we sell lavender plugs on a first-come, first-served basis until each variety is sold out. Our 2023 plant sale will be held May 19-21. We will continue to sell our plants throughout the season, but the largest variety is available during the plant sale. For more information about our plant sale, visit our website here: https://lavenderhillfarm.com/events-and-more/
Parking is located South of the Barn at our Drying Shed Lot. Handicap parking, guest drop off, and parking for small evening activities is available in the Horseshoe Driveway (Loop). Visit the parking page of our website for a map!
Please visit our website HERE to learn more about open positions at Lavender Hill Farm!
Thank you for your interest in our farm! Please send any information over to our events Director at events@lavenderhillfarm.com while planning for the 2023 season is well underway, 2024 is just around the corner!
Our farm is open to the public from 10am – 5pm 7 days a week during our season except for July 4th. It is unlawful to access our property outside of these hours without prior written permission. Those attending a scheduled event or activity are permitted to visit during the hours outlined on the ticket or invitation. Photographers, birders, or other guests hoping to experience the farm during magical lighting hours outside of our normal operational hours may contact us at events@lavenderhillfarm.com prior to your visit to request access. Emailing does not guarantee approval. Please allow several business days for our team to process your request.
Only properly licensed service animals are permitted on the farm. For the comfort and safety of our guests, employees, and plants, we ask that you leave your pets at home. Except for properly licensed service animals, dogs are not permitted on our farm. We hope you have a wonderful visit and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Our farm is open to the public during our operational hours. Starting May 12, 2023, through late October from 10am – 5pm seven days a week, except July 4th, visitors are welcome to experience the lavender at our farm free of charge. Explore our property including walking trails, labyrinth, gardens, events barn, and boutique free of charge. Tickets are not required for these activities. Please visit our events calendar for ticketed classes, workshops and events offered at our farm all season long!
Drones are ONLY Permitted for properly licensed operators with a scheduled, paid session. Please see our Photography Policy for more information.
Yes. Our farm is a beautiful place to enjoy a relaxing picnic. Learn more here
We do our absolute best to accommodate those needing assistance. Our farm is a 33-acre working farm, full of rolling hills that are not always the most forgiving to those with mobility issues. Our Events Barn and new Farmhouse (coming soon) are ADA compliant, and we have barrier free parking available for those who need it. Our team is happy to help if assistance is ever needed. Call or email us prior to your visit so we can make sure you have an enjoyable experience at our farm! (231)582-3784 or service@lavenderhillfarm.com PARKING: You can find a map of the farm HERE. We offer golf cart shuttles from the main parking area in the Drying Shed lot, or we have close parking available in our loop or horseshoe driveway that is close to the Events Barn and Boutique. No matter where you park, our team will be happy to bring a golf cart over to you and drop off almost anywhere on the property! BARN: Our beautifully renovated events barn is ADA compliant. Complete with restrooms and a compliant grass ramp. Again, we are happy to help get anyone needing assistance up the ramp via golf cart. TOURS: We offer golf cart tours of the farm which we absolutely recommend experiencing. There is minimal walking during the tour (generally just a few yards into the still house), but if you let the guide know any limitations before it starts, they will be more then accommodating to get you as close as possible.
We sure do! There are over a million honeybees at our farm during the summer months. Our friends at Three Bear’s Honey keep several of their happiest beehives at our farm. Lavender is a superfood for bees, and because they are so focused on the plants, they might not even know you are there. Even during our harvest, when the field workers are deep in the lavender plots, grabbing, cutting, and moving around the blooming stems, the bees just move over to a different plant, completely unbothered. FUN FACT: The Bass Wood Tres planted around the farm are for the bees too! ANOTHRE FUN FACT: If you ever get stung by a bee, use a drop of lavender essential oil on the spot. This herbal remedy is said to reduce the sting, heal your skin faster and is a natural antiseptic so it will keep your wound clean!
All lavender varieties are safe to eat, but only some are appetizing. Angustifolia Lavender varieties are a popular family for culinary use because they do not have camphor in them. Camphor is useful as a natural bug repellent but creates an unpleasant taste. The most popular varieties of culinary lavender on our farm are Hidcote, Melissa and Violet Intrigue. Culinary Lavender can be used in many ways. Chocolate, ice creams, meat rubs, sodas, beer, wine, tea, coffee, dressings, and cheese, lavender can add a unique flavor to nearly anything. Visit our boutique for more culinary creations or shop online today!
Yes! We make our own Lavender Essential oils on our farm using the lavender harvested right here! Limited quantities of the oil made on our property is sold at our farm Boutique. Take a guided tour and visit our Still House where Penny, our giant copper still makes our oil and our lavender hydrosol starting in late July through September each year. Take one of our distillation workshops this summer and make your own oil! Lavender Essential Oils have been used for centuries as a perfume and for their calming and medicinal properties.
Lavender hydrosol is a floral water containing about 8% essential oil. It is created naturally during steam distillation. During this process, the steam carrying the essential lavender oil condensates and after the oil is separated, a small amount of liquid remains. This is Lavender Hydrosol. Lavender hydrosol is one of our best sellers. It has the same PH as our skin. Many use it for: healing cuts, scrapes, burns, and itchy skin. It can be used as a household cleaner, bug repellent, facial toner, jewelry cleaner and more. An antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory miracle product – some say.
Lavender Hill Farm is the perfect spot for your next big or small event! Visit the Wedding & Events tab on our website for more information or email our events team at events@lavenderhillfarm.com. Some examples of events we have hosted are Weddings, brunches, rehearsal dinners, ceremonies, bridal showers, baby showers, product launches, club meetings, birthday parties, sweet 16’s, homecoming dances, corporate events, recitals, family reunions, vow renewals, craft groups, bachelorette parties, and so much more!
YES! The Series at Lavender Hill Farm is a live music concert series held in our beautifully renovated, multi-use barn starring some of the best talent from across the United States and beyond. The bands are carefully selected to uniquely represent a wide array of music styles and bring an unexpected variety to Northern Michigan. Guests arrive early and enjoy picnicking with friends on our lawn overlooking fields of lavender. Our venue, built-in 1920, has been skillfully adapted with historical theater seating, lighting, sound and stage. We hope that you enjoy your time on our farm and welcome you to make The Series at Lavender Hill Farm a summer tradition. Local Ground Musicians perform for ticketed guests before our Series performances as well as during select farm events such as our Lavender Fest Fridays.
Smoking, vaping, and E-cigarettes are not permitted anywhere on the property.
Most guests spend between 30 minutes and 4 hours at our farm. A quick 30-minute trip is common for someone restocking their favorite lavender Skin Care Bar, but we recommend carving out at least a few hours for a first-time guest. Taking a tour and exploring the boutique is the equivalent of dipping your toes into our farm and will take about an hour roughly. We recommend checking out the calendar on our website to plan your visit before you arrive. There is so much to do all season long! https://lavenderhillfarm.com/calendar/
Toggle Lavender Hill Farm is an Agritourism destination in Northern Michigan where visitors return every season. A 33-acre farm nestled in rolling hills between Boyne City, Petoskey, and Charlevoix. Take a tour, explore the fields, shop the boutique, listen to live music, take a fitness class or workshop, enjoy food, and celebrate life’s big events. Lavender Hill Farm has an events calendar packed with everything you want and more. Start planning your visit today! Check it out here: https://lavenderhillfarm.com/calendar/
We offer guided golf cart tours every day we are open during our operational hours from 10am to 5pm. Tours last roughly 20 minutes and include history of the farm, explanation of growing, harvesting, and processing lavender. Visit our website to book a tour date in advance on our website or stop by our ambassador stand or farm boutique when you arrive. Tours are scheduled upon arrival and must be checked in by 4:30pm for a same day tour. New this year we are offering special Owner Tours. Book them now! https://lavenderhillfarm.com/take-a-tour/
Dine with us at Lavender Hill Farm! We offer Lunches on select Wednesdays, a special series of Dining in Lavender events as well as picnics on the farm! Learn more in the Dine with us section of our website here: https://lavenderhillfarm.com/dining-events/ and here: https://lavenderhillfarm.com/picnic/
Fridays are extra special at Lavender Hill Farm! Stop by our farm during one of our Lavender Fest Fridays and enjoy the atmosphere, friends, and family. Our farm is free to visit. Fridays may include live music, face painting, lawn games, food vendors and more! Learn more here: https://lavenderhillfarm.com/events-and-more/
Yes, we do!
Our farm is proudly MAEAP Verified. The Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program is an innovative, proactive program that helps farms of all sizes, and all commodities voluntarily prevent or minimize agricultural pollution risks.
We are CNG Certified. CNG Farmers don’t use any synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, or genetically modified organisms.
We are pesticide free and chemical free.
AND we frequently sing to our plants!
Our farm is free to visit during our operational hours. Guests are welcome to partake in a self-guided walking tour for no charge. Stop by our Ambassador Stand for a map! Explore our lavender fields, walking trails, lavender labyrinth, fairy garden, and boutique. Bring a picnic and enjoy a meal overlooking our rolling hills of lavender. Attend one of our Lavender Fest Fridays and celebrate the summer with visitors free of charge. We hope to see you soon!
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