Our Lavender
The heart of our farm.
Lavender has been cultivated for thousands of years for its fragrance, its calming properties, and its sheer beauty. At Briarwood, it’s become the heart of our farm — a natural complement to the restoration work that defines everything we do here.
Our lavender fields sit in the Willamette Valley near Aumsville, Oregon, where mild winters, warm summers, and well-drained soil create ideal growing conditions. Each summer, the rows come alive in shades of purple and blue, filling the air with a fragrance that draws visitors from across the region.
What We Grow
We grow six cultivars of lavender, carefully selected for our climate and the distinct qualities each brings to our products.
English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
We grow four angustifolia varieties, prized for their sweet, floral fragrance and valued in skincare, aromatherapy, and culinary use. English lavender produces a delicate, complex essential oil considered the gold standard for therapeutic applications.
Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia)
Our two lavandin varieties, including Grosso, are vigorous growers that produce higher oil yields with a bold, camphoraceous fragrance. Grosso is the backbone of our essential oil production, with over 460 plants currently in the ground and expanding each year.
Our lavender is grown without synthetic pesticides or herbicides, in keeping with our commitment to the health of this land. The same philosophy that drives our restoration work guides how we farm — working with nature, not against it.
Harvest & Distillation
Lavender harvest typically runs from late June through July. The blooms are cut by hand, bundled, and either dried for decorative use or distilled on the farm to produce our pure essential oil and hydrosol.
Our distillation is done the traditional way — using a 60-liter copper alembic still, handcrafted by Copper Brothers in Portugal. The process is slow and deliberate: fresh lavender is loaded into the copper pot, steam passes through the plant material, and the resulting vapor is condensed into two valuable products — essential oil and hydrosol (the aromatic floral water that carries the water-soluble compounds of the plant).
It takes a significant amount of fresh lavender to produce just a small bottle of oil — which is part of what makes it special. Every bottle from Briarwood represents the work of an entire growing season. Nothing is wasted: our hydrosol is used as a base ingredient in the majority of our handcrafted products, from facial toners and body mists to linen sprays and culinary applications.
Looking Ahead
We’re actively expanding our lavender plantings. Our Grosso field alone includes over 460 plants on a five-year growth plan, with production scaling each year as the plants mature. By peak production, we expect to be distilling our own supply of essential oil and hydrosol entirely from what we grow on the farm.
We’re also continuing to evaluate new varieties suited to the Willamette Valley climate and exploring the unique characteristics each cultivar brings to our product line. As the farm grows, so does our vision for what lavender can become at Briarwood.