King Pine Farms

09/22/2026

This year we were finally able to harvest our anise hyssop—and I have to say, I’m becoming a fan!

The leaves and flowers have a mild black-licorice flavor and smell, and now that the weather is getting cooler, I’ve been experimenting with mixing it with lavender. It makes a lovely little evening tea and has become a pleasant way to end the day.

The pretty light-purple flowers also dry beautifully, so my next experiment is to see what I can come up with using them in dried-flower projects. 🌿

And this plant just keeps on giving! It grows back surprisingly fast, and by the end of the season we’ll have harvested it three times.

If you’re looking for a pretty, easy-to-grow plant that’s useful in more ways than one, anise hyssop might be one to add to your garden.

09/14/2026

A little farm-girl kitchen experiment happened this weekend…

I made some white chocolate lavender cookies, and then decided to take it one step further and turn a few into ice cream sandwiches. Because why not?! 😂

I have to admit, before we started using our culinary lavender, I wasn’t convinced I’d like lavender in food. I was wrong!

It has a sweet, subtle flavor that doesn’t taste “flowery” at all. I love it in these cookies, and lavender honey butter is another favorite around here.

It’s fun discovering all the ways we can use something we grow right here on the farm!

We have a limited amount of culinary lavender available. If you’d like to experiment in your own kitchen, send me a message!

09/10/2026

One of the most beautiful lavender varieties we grow is aptly named Phenomenal. It produces wonderfully long stems and has a beautiful fragrance that makes it especially lovely for beauty products.

This year, we’re trying a new-to-us way of propagating it!

The process is pretty simple: we strip a small section of one stem down to the green, gently stake it into the soil, and then flag it so we can find it again.

Now comes the hard part… waiting! Next year, we’re hoping to find new roots growing from the stem, which we can then cut, dig up and replant as a new lavender plant.

We’ll see what happens! Growing lavender is always a little bit experiment, a little bit patience, and a whole lot of hope!

09/05/2026

More behind the scenes pics from processing the lavender …

09/05/2026

Here’s a little behind the scenes look at how we process our lavender. … There’s a fair amount of steps but the scent of lavender that accompanies each step makes it a calming experience!!

After we harvest the lavender, we hang it to dry for a minimum of 10 days. Once it’s nice and dry, we debud the bundles and run the buds through a manual sieve to remove the larger bits of stems and debris. Then comes the final clean — using a refurbished seed mill (fanning mill) we send them through the mill separating out the last bits of chaff and debris.

And just like that… the lavender is clean, fragrant, and ready to be used!

09/02/2026

It’s hard to believe summer is wrapping up … I’m holding on to it as long as I can!! So many of you have checked in on our lavender after we lost several shrubs last year. We so appreciate it! So I thought I’d share some good news. Our winter survival rate was much better! We also added a brand-new variety this spring, Essense Purple. It comes from the "Proven Winners" line, so we have high hopes for its success.

We DO have a limited amount of lavender products for sale. Culinary Lavender, Lavender Pal stuffed animals and Lavender Sachets. Just message me if you are interested.

03/02/2026

01/21/2026

Lavender update…

Right now, our lavender field is fast asleep, tucked snugly beneath a soft blanket of snow — nature’s way of helping it rest through the long winter months. After the losses we experienced last year, we went into this winter with extra care and curiosity, trying a few new approaches to give our lavender the best chance to thrive.

We waited as long as possible for the ground to truly freeze, making sure the plants had fully slipped into dormancy before stepping in. Once the timing felt right, we covered about 80% of the shrubs to protect them from the harshest conditions. For the remaining 20%, we decided to let nature take the lead, leaving them uncovered as a little winter experiment to see how they fare on their own.

Now we wait — hopeful, patient, and dreaming of rows of pretty purple blooms waving in the summer sun. 💜

Here’s some pics from fall …