About Us

For more than 30 years, Kathy Sanders was one of the United States leading food photographers. With more than 100 covers on Better Homes and Gardens publications and having shot for nearly all the major food clients, she was at the top of her game in 2003. Jack Wilson, her husband, was a television producer with 11 national PBS specials under his belt and more than 70 business-to-business training DVDs for sale in the international marketplace. Living in a loft in Chicago life was good! Something however was missing. And that was the outdoors. Both Kathy and Jack liked being outside. Yes you certainly could be outside in Chicago but you couldn’t really get your hands dirty like they wanted to do.

So, in 2004 they moved to Lawrence Kansas, Kathy's hometown and bought some land. They built a log home and started growing vegetables. The gods did not shine down on this venture— rainstorms, hale and high winds stopped it very quickly. So what to do?

The land was tested and it seemed to be perfect for two things— grapes and lavender and after much reading and study lavender won out as the crop of choice. But what type of lavender and would it really grow in Kansas? Seven different lavender types were tested and one won out.

To be continued...

...And Grosso was chosen, a French lavender with a great fragrance and a beautiful flower. Others were selected as well to include Gros Blue, Edelweiss, Beuna Vista, and Melissa each with a different smell and look from pink to white to deep purple.

The first year nearly 2,000 plants were put in the ground. Make no small dreams seemed to be the motto. But what about deer and rabbits and hail and high winds, and, and, and? Well luck was there. Rabbits and deer don’t bother the lavender, and the plants are short enough so the high winds don’t seem to bother it. As for hail, well so far it too seems to be gentle to the lavender.

Lavender began growing and the field developed that beautiful purple glow that everyone thinks of when they picture lavender. That’s great but now that it’s growing what can be done with it? The old marketing theory of “have a market” before you build a product seemed to have been thrown out the window. Well yes and no. The land really had to prove that it would allow the lavender to grow, in quantity, before a major marketing plan could be developed. OK, so maybe that is not quite true but at least it was the idea. But what products to make? How to make them? And most of all who will make them!?

To be continued...

...We had the land and we knew the lavender would grow (hopefully) and now, what to do with it? Kathy again stepped up. She had a list of products she wanted to develop and was going to make them--herself! Yes, she planted and harvested and now was going to make the products as well.

The first product was a 1/2 oz sachet and then a full oz. To make them unique Kathy painted a sprig of lavender on each bag. A two-color job and all painted by hand--no printing or stamp here, all by hand.

In a weak moment Jack volunteered to paint as well. This was not a real success and after eight or nine bags Kathy suggested that he go have a soda (she has kept the bags just incase Jack wants to try it again!).

Then came the neck comforters. Kathy kept testing and talking to customers and came up with lots of innovations; the comforter was segmented so all the lavender would not run to the bottom. Finger “grips” were put on each end to make them easier to grasp. And finally, the outer cover was removable for easy cleaning. When selling them we explain that they may be put in the microwave oven and heated for 30 to 40 seconds to make them work even better. One customer tried to put theirs in for 6 minutes and said it smelled like popcorn. Oops!! Not a good idea!!

Next were the eye pillows. Smooth on one side and and rougher on the other. These too may be placed in the microwave for a very short period of time or placed in the refrigerator to cool them down. Our customers tell us they are great sleep aids and really help relieve headaches.

Dryer sheets came next, three in a pack, and as of this writing 39 customers have told us they have been using them in their dryers for more than a year (two have told us more than two years!). Again, a Kathy design and a neat product. They also may be put in pillows, since they are flat, as a sleep aide.

Now we had the products (and more to come about our new ones) but where to sell them.

Again. To be continued...

Yes, there are more new products. Kathy was at it again and designed a set of coasters in all sorts of colors, each with a lavender insert. So, when you set your hot mug of coffee, tea or hot chocolate on them, they release the scent of lavender. And, she even designed one for coffee or tea pots to do the same thing! Again, Jack was happy to be out in the fields when Kathy came up with this idea.

Oh yes, there is still another new product, “A yard of lavender.” Thirty-six inches of lavender divided into three inch squares. All in a long line and double stitched between each square so they may be cut and used in drawers or put in your pillow as a sleep aide.

And finally there are the fire starters to use in your fire place. When the lavender is stripped from the stems the stems are saved and bundled together to use in your fireplace. The bottoms have been cut square so they may also be used as a decoration (no sense seeing money go up in flames!).

Then came the question: “Where to sell the products?” First came the Lawrence Farmers Market. What a terrific group of vendors and customers. Every vendor has been so helpful in showing us the ropes and helping us set up in the dark. Jack still has trouble getting the picture centered that hangs on the booth so Jill of Moon on the Meadow (the vendor next to us) has to stand there every Saturday (if Kathy is coming later) and direct the hanging. It becomes even more funny every week. Then there is Don Flory with his hot cups of coffee that gets us all through the early hours. John and Karen Pendleton have been just incredible with their help, and there is Tom and Stephanie (they got married on our land this summer), Emu Annie, Kathy Hagen, Mike and Kitty Glass, Jozie and Brian and so, so many more. Again, what a great group!

The summer of 2010 found us with our own permanent space (we were floaters for three years— up at 4 am to make sure we got a spot-now we can sleep in on Saturdays until 4:30, wheee!).

The next big selling event will be the Holiday Market at the Holiday Inn Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive in Lawrence on December 11 from 9 am to 5 pm. Should be great fun and nearly all the vendors will be there.

To be continued...

Well the Holiday Market was a success and we have made it through one of the coldest and snowy winters we can remember. Or, are we just getting older and "each" winter seems worse than the last one?

Now it is spring and we are gearing up for the Farmers Market and getting ready to plant another 2,500 lavender plants. This will give us a total of nearly 6,000 plants. The land was tilled in late fall and should be ready to receive the little organic starters in late May to early June. The tractor has been serviced or should we say tractors. We now have a small John Deere and an old (don't let it hear us call it old) 1949 Ford 8N.

Kathy is busy working on product and getting ready to plant. Jack has been up on the hill doing some additional tilling. The land is just about ready; however, each time it rains it sets back the tilling schedule.

Our products are now available at The Merc and at Pendleton's Country Market, at the HyVee on 23rd when the construction is completed, and here on our web site.

To be continued...

Much has happened in the last few months. Our starter plants arrived all perky and ready to go in the ground. As we have mentioned before we get the starters from Oregon and they are all organic. Speaking of organic we are now officially certified organic. We have always grown our plants organically but never went through the "official" process--soil testing, visit by the certifier, etc. They loved the land and so we are OFFICIAL; but, we digress.

The plants arrived after surviving one of he coldest winters/early springs they have had in Oregon. They came into one of the hottest springs we have had in Lawrence. And so, the plants were shocked. Shocked so much that more than 1/2 of them died before we had a chance to get them in the ground. They were shocked and so were we! Many that were planted survived and now we hope they will survive the winter(they had less of a deep root growth than in the past as a result of the cold spring in Oregon so this may be a problem).

We are now back at the Lawrence Farmers Market after taking a few weeks off for a family emergency. All seems to be well and we are looking forward to a super fall!

Kathy is working on some new products. One is a holiday ornament for the Christmas tree-- a ginger bread man filled with lavender. What a great combination of fragrances--pine and lavender. We will have pictures up in a week or so. We also will have some new video up as well!

We have some great plans for 2012 but we will keep those secret until they are finalized. What fun.

To be continued....

Fall is nearly over and winter is fast approaching. The trees are almost bare and the lavender plants seem to be tucking their little heads down to face the tough Kansas winter winds. Still, given all of this it is a beautiful and breath taking sight to look out over he lavender fields and know that we have made this happen! Only a few weeks until the new year and we are all now in the middle of the holiday season; good meals, presents, and great friendships rekindled.

We are so excited to be "doing what we are doing"---raising lavender and making all of our own products right here in America! People are talking on television about how important it is to buy American made products and we agree. To this end for our local friends we will be at the Lawrence Farmers Holiday Market Saturday, December 10th at the Lawrence Holiday Inn. We hope you can come by and say hello and maybe pick up that gift for that "special" person.

To you and yours we wish you the happiest of holidays and a terrific New Year!

To be continued...