Giuliana Villanueva is two years old and still learning to talk but has already mastered one word. Lavender.
Her mother Marianne laughs as she tells the story.
"Not only can she say the word, my little girl knows the smell, too. And my boy Georges, who is seven, helped us with our first harvest last year. We cut the flowers and he held the basket. It was fun."
Marianne and her husband Arnulfo (aka JR) own Hunter Lavender Farm at Broke and on December 17 open the gates to the public for the first time. They will remain open while the lavender is in full bloom, until January 15.
The couple bought the 14-acre property in 2019 when it was just an empty field with a farmhouse. It had never been farmed before, and it was too small for a vineyard.
They didn't know anything about farming but had fallen in love with the Hunter Valley in 2014 when they were married at the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Wollombi.
Originally from the Philippines, Marianne and JR had spent 15 years living and working in Sydney. Both of them had stressful and demanding corporate jobs and were looking to take the foot off the accelerator.
"We bought the property as a weekend escape," Marianne says.
"I had my second child in February 2020 and then COVID happened and we ended up staying here in the Valley. We started thinking about what to do with the place, and 14 acres is probably not the size you need if you want to make wine.
"We needed something which didn't require a lot of land, and we decided on lavender."
While on honeymoon in Provence, France, the couple had been entranced by the seemingly endless fields of purple lavender. Marianne was also a fan of lavender's therapeutic qualities.
"Personally, I use it a lot. With a corporate job there is a lot of stress and anxiety, so I was always drawn to lavender. It works for me."
Three lavender species are grown at Hunter Lavender Farm: Lavandula angustifolia, also known as English lavender or true lavender; Lavandula x intermedia, also known as Lavandin; and Lavandula stoechas, also known as French lavender, Spanish lavender or butterfly lavender.
The colours of the lavender grown range from white to deep purple and they are used in essential oils, as dried flowers and for ornamental purposes.
Products made and sold by Marianne include a lavender pillow mist and eye pillow, a lavender roll-on, dried lavender sachets and even lavender linen tea towels.
Then there are the "lavender experiences" unique to Hunter Lavender Farm over the next four weeks.
Lavender Field Walk Daily (except Christmas Day and New Year's Day).
Honey Harvest Experience Join Ben from The Humble Hive Collective (December 17 or January 8) and learn about the fascinating behaviours of bees and their value to the lavender farm and to the broader ecosystem. Harvest your own local, raw honey in a gentle non-intrusive manner using a unique process called 'tapping' from the Australian-designed Flow Hives onsite.
Fine Art in Little Provence A three-hour painting class with Pinot & Picasso Hunter Valley (January 6, 11am to 2pm) set against a backdrop of the Lizard Rock escarpment.
Dried Lavender and Flower Arrangement Create your own long-lasting dried flower arrangement with the help of an experienced florist (January 14 or 15).
Beekeeping For Beginners Learn the basics of beekeeping through a hands-on exploration of an active beehive with Ben from The Humble Hive Collective (December 17 or January 8).
Yoga in Lavender Bloom A meditation session in an outdoor studio that combines yoga and Shinrin-Yoku (December 18, 23, 27 and 31 or January 6, 7 or 11).
Lavender Mini Photo Session January 8 or 15 with Mist In Island Photography, or January 14 with Wild Love Photography.
The past two years have been a steep learning curve for Marianne and JR. COVID lockdowns provided the perfect opportunity for them to learn all there is to know about starting a lavender farm from scratch.
"We did a lot of research before we planted the first field in May, 2021, talking to growers around Australia and doing online courses about lavender growing," Marianne says.
"The land hadn't been farmed before but the soil is very healthy, well drained, and had the right pH levels. It's amazing."
Similar to grape growing, or any farmed crop, the quality of a lavender yield is dependent on factors such as the nutrients in the soil, and the weather.
"The volume of oil produced can vary, based on the region where it's grown, and we tend to harvest a lot," Marianne says.
"The scent of the lavender can vary, too, and when we send it to the lab ours is often sweeter than lavender grown in other areas. More fragrant."
She says she is enjoying the creative side of a start-up but there are still days when the nerves creep in. Thankfully, JR's Sydney employer is happy for him to work remotely.
"I gave up the security of having a fixed income every month, at a job in corporate finance I'd had for 15 years, and it's both scary and exciting," she says.
"A start-up can be as stressful as a corporate job - the buying and receiving, marketing and sales, I'm doing it all.
"I maintain the website now but I had someone set it up for me. The colours are aligned with the brand strategy and also the brand colour. We had proper branding and photography done last year and it turned out really well.
"But, even though it can be stressful, the environment I'm working in is completely different from that of the city. The lifestyle is not stressful at all.
"I wake up to the sounds of the birds and every day I walk through the fields, I smell the flowers, I see the countryside, the Brokenback Range."
It's an environment she is grateful to be raising her two children in.
"We grew up on the country side of the Philippines - there's a coastal side and a country farm side - and our ancestors were growing rice fields and mango farms," she explains.
"Our generation was more about having a degree, and finding corporate work. That was the goal. We didn't really inherit those agricultural instincts.
"We want our kids to have space to run, a place with fresh air. What we had growing up. Then they can decide for themselves if they want to go to the city."
hunterlavenderfarm.com.au
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