ABOUT US
A country escape - just outside the city.
As a first-generation lavender farm in the heart of the Headwaters, our family feels grateful to host you and your loved ones as you connect with nature.
Come immerse yourself in our serenity. See our beautiful Celtic Stone Circle, our fully restored 1881 Heritage Barn store, our re-wilded river meadow running along the banks of the Nottawasaga North Branch, our flowing lavender fields, with murals and other art on display, our on-farm distillation and products workshops, our honey apiary, our barn cats Luna and Franc, our bunnies Lois and Bernice, our flocks of free range Lavender Orpington hens and Pekin ducks, our Thoroughbred retired racehorse KitKat, our draught horses Grace (a Percheron) and Frankie (a Belgian Bay) and their pony companions Spirit and Captain Crunch.
For real-time glimpses of farm-life, check out our Instagram @AvalonLavender
WHY 'AVALON?'
Avalon invites a special connection to nature. Literally meaning “Isle of Fruit,” Avalon is the mystical isle featured in Arthurian legend. Associated with the enchantress Morgan le Fay/Morgana, Glastonbury Tor, divine feminine and masculine energies, cycles of birth and death, and the Chalice Well. In short: a fertile, healing, place full of magical Celtic nature transformation.
FARM FEATURES
We have over 30,000 lavender plants - English + French - in 7 different cultivars which were primarily planted in the spring of 2021. Our friends, family, and broader community came together to hand-plant every single lavender plug in a single heroic weekend. Each of our 7 cultivars has different properties that make it ideal for features of our Ontario climate, or for the products we make with it. Our field has easy-to-read signs about each of the lavender varieties, so that guests can experience a self-guided tour.
Avalon has a beautiful, winding, River Walk which peeks at the Nottawasaga River's North Branch. The walk - a favourite for photographers, kids, and dogs - is included in the field admission at Avalon, and takes about 10 minutes for a full circuit.
Our Celtic Stone Circle was created in 2020 as homage to our Scottish ancestry and as a reverent focal space of our farm. Using stones from the borders of our field the 100-ft, 8-stone, circle was oriented along the compass rose - with the recumbent stone as the Northern point in the circle. The circle has hosted live music, field yoga, Reiki, Solstice celebrations, and women's circles. We host seasonal yoga in the stone circle.
The Avalon Apiary is home to hundreds of thousands of honeybees and is lovingly managed in our partnership with Ontario Honey Creations. We're thrilled to offer Lavender Creamed Honey in our online store and Heritage Barn farm shop.
Our 30 free-range lavender orpington hens love their life of grazing and adoration here at Avalon. Guests continue to fall in love with their curious and friendly temperaments.
Avalon is home to 3 horses (KitKat the Thoroughbred, Grace the Percheron and Frankie the Belgian Bay), plus 2 spunky ponies (Captain Crunch + Spirit) who love being lavished with attention. Our team keeps special horse treats in the Heritage Barn farm shop free with every purchase from the store - so please stop in and ask if you can feed them. We also ask that you do not feed them outside food, like apples, so we can keep them safe, happy, and healthy.
Spirit, with photo credit to @j08photos
In 2020 we began work to fully restore our two-story 1881 Heritage Barn. Now a focal point of Avalon, this barn boasts spaces for drying our lavender, a flexible workshop area, and our Avalon farm shop filled with lavender products grown at Avalon and made by us or in partnership with celebrated local artisans.
When our lavender is just right for harvesting the oils and hydrosols, we begin distillation with our Portuguese copper still in the courtyard for guests to observe. The aroma of fresh lavender fills the air - and our family feels a deep appreciation for the plants, and the time and love that it takes to make our farm-grown products.
Picnic spots are everywhere at Avalon: with tables, as well as room for your own blankets + nibbles.
This year we're continuing our "cut-your-own" lavender element at Avalon: you can find out more HERE.
We look forward to hosting you and your loved ones at Avalon Lavender Farm.