The word of the year for 2024? SLOW.
2023 was a year of growth for us and it almost killed us and the lavender dream at the same time 🙂 We pushed hard and opened our first retail storefront in July 2023 near YLW in the Quail Ridge area of Kelowna. We opened with a kick-off event for BMW Canada and while the shop remained quietly open for a few days afterward, we came to realize that we weren’t ready for the commitment required to go full retail at that time. The stress of managing a July harvest, our primary marketing business, and family, combined with an epic Okanagan firestorm that saw us evacuated from our farm and our new retail spot for over a week left us reeling and reflecting.
When the fire hit, we didn’t know if there was a farm to go back to. We were lucky and sustained only minor damage, mostly to our home. Other than the wildlife coming in and eating everything that was normally protected by a gate, our lavender remained unscathed. Previous fires have shown us that fire smoke and heat do not affect our lavender plants, unlike wine grapes that absorb the smoke taint. The landscape around us was dry and burnt and signs that the wildfire got too close for comfort were everywhere. Eager to put the fire behind us and thankful that we were back home unlike many residents who lost their homes this summer, we focused on re-evaluating our plans for the farm and the future.
In December, we began the slow and long road of developing new culinary lavender products to bring to the market. Lab tests for shelf-stable culinary products are taking time to bring to market, but we are committed to getting there – slowly. So that’s the word for 2024. Slow. We are slowing this thing down, focusing on quality and hoping to bring Lavender Jack’s to life when the time is right for us. Lavender has always been a great escape for us from what we “normally” do in a day. We don’t ever want it to feel like it’s work that we’re obligated to complete.
Hopefully, you’ll stick around and witness our journey unfold. Until then, we’ve provided another wacky Kelowna climate update on the farm here!
We encourage you to stay up to date with new releases and harvest dates by regularly checking our website and Instagram account. Also, please chat with us if you have any questions that can’t be answered from our site!
We remind you that the farm is not open to the public for photography or tours.
We can’t wait to hear from you!
