‘Absolutely wonderful’: Petaluma lavender farm brings joy to growers, visitors alike

JoAnn and Richard Wallenstein restock a display in their store on Sept at the Lavender Bee Farm in Petaluma Kent Porter The Press Democrat When life gets stressful one of the oldest tried and true remedies comes from the calming scent of flowers Lavender is at the top of that list and when it s an entire field of lavender it can waft our troubles away with both the sight and aroma Petaluma residents can see and enjoy such a visage on Chapman Lane where the Lavender Bee Farm has been enchanting locals and international guests for various years JoAnn Wallenstein uses a screen to separate lavender buds from dried stalks on Sept Along with her husband Richard the Wallenstein's own and operate the Lavender Bee Farm in Petaluma Kent Porter The Press Democrat JoAnn and Richard Wallenstein own the Lavender Bee Farm where JoAnn grew up JoAnn s parents bought the property in shortly after she was born My mom and dad raised all their own products like the vegetables and the chickens she mentioned We had a chicken ranch in the s with about chickens here on Chapman Lane Related Articles This Bay Area neighborhood makes Time Out s world s coolest for Lush unveils D a de los Muertos collection featuring Sonoma s Blanca Molina Kristi Noem PSA blaming Democrats for shutdown isn t playing at Bay Area airports Muir house shutdown sparks fears of widespread park closures The enduring charm of California s small town centers JoAnn revealed a lot of her memories of growing up on the farm are centered on the -H projects she and her sister worked on and presented at the local fairs Those projects included raising sheep and JoAnn also had a horse project That led to her being a member of the Petaluma Riding and Driving Club as well as the drill association They were members of the local Wilson -H club and that legacy continued when JoAnn raised her own family there My daughters both had dairy projects she declared They were in the replacement heifer scheme where they raised dairy calves and sold them at the fair So that was two generations right there at the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Fairs We had a really wonderful time We have wonderful neighbors and we re still here on Chapman Lane Beginning of the farm JoAnn and her husband Richard inherited the farm from her parents in and considered planting something that would beautify the place like grapes But then she discovered something even better She learned that lavender was drought tolerant and gophers aren t interested in it They put in lavender plants and now they maintain around Richard had also decided to try his hand at keeping honey bees and they loved the lavender The combination of lavender and honey led to the start of a local business that would be just enchanting and wildly popular They harvest the lavender in July and bring it into the barn JoAnn explained it s a lovely site JoAnn and Richard Wallenstein pictured in a lavender field on Sept own and operate the Lavender Bee Farm in Petaluma Kent Porter The Press Democrat We cut the lavender plants into bouquets and we hang them upside down to dry she mentioned It takes about weeks to dry and then we take it down and we make our products out of it The smell of it is very intoxicating The bees would undoubtedly agree with her JoAnn and I observed how well the bees liked the lavender and the honey was just a very rich creamy honey with a slight floral taste Richard stated And to me it has a little bit of a caramel taste at the finish Dried lavender buds are available at Lavender Bee Farm in Petaluma Kent Porter The Press Democrat They maintain a store on the property with their products It s a small operation and only open by appointment but they have numerous repeat customers who visit regularly JoAnn mentioned that s what keeps them kind of busy A lot of people that don t use sugar like using the honey for medicinal reasons she revealed The lavender honey is kind of special It s a light honey with a floral taste at the end That s what happens when bees are in the lavender You get the lavender honey They sell the honey in glass jars ranging from ounces to a quart as well as offering honey sticks and all kinds of little honey bee items The shop is laden with lavender bunches bouquets and sachets lavender-infused sugar culinary lavender and lavender essential oil They sell a soap they have locally made with goat s milk and their lavender and honey JoAnn and Richard Wallenstein owners of the Lavender Bee Farm in Petaluma pose with Sam the dog on Sept Kent Porter The Press Democrat JoAnn makes beeswax candles to sell in the shop as well as a moisture bar and a popular lotion bar made from virgin olive oil and beeswax It s a gardener s bar for your hands and your heels she revealed The virgin olive oil that I put in with the beeswax softens it and it s very very smooth It s like a bar of soap but it comes off like a lotion It s a lovely product it really is They also sell gift baskets with an assortment of their products and do custom baskets as well There s all kinds of lovely things JoAnn announced All of the products we grow here and we don t use any sprays or pesticides Knickknacks are on display at the Lavender Bee Farm in Petaluma Kent Porter The Press Democrat They also sell their products through their website Rivertown Feed the Tea Room Cafe and the Petaluma Seed Bank all sell their honey They used to sell their products at local farmers markets and were part of the Sonoma County Farm Trails They ve also done multiple festivals around the county over the years like the Petaluma Art and Garden Festival and the Healdsburg Lavender Day Festival They also used to host group tours where they gave talks about growing lavender and keeping bees They hosted events like birthday parties bridal and baby showers and small wedding ceremonies They even had a camel named Mel who was a big hit during the tours and events He was a big mascot for the farm JoAnn declared Lots of school children have visited and although they enjoyed the tours they were especially delighted to meet Mel We ve had a wonderful time sharing the farm with countless multiple people Growing lavender When they started they were one of the scarce local lavender farms but now JoAnn noted that there are quite a scant around the county She explained it seemed like a good time to slow down and simplify things My husband and I are trying to cut back a little bit and enjoy our later years she noted That includes enjoying their growing family with grandchildren a great-grandchild and another great-grandchild on the way Even though they re slowing down and doing fewer events there s perpetually going to be plenty of work to do JoAnn pointed out there s consistently something that requirements to be fixed or tended to on a farm This past year the lavender harvest needed more of their attention Richard Wallenstein owns the Lavender Bee Farm in Petaluma with his wife JoAnn Kent Porter The Press Democrat She mentioned that much like any farmer will tell you every year is different and that has a lot to do with the weather She explained the lavender was definitely impacted this year We had so much wind in our area that the season was apparently cut back by three weeks she stated The plants were in beautiful bloom and then they got that wind on them and the heat dried the flowers really hastily so that was a short season this year Richard reported that lavender season is over nowm and they re starting the end of the season pruning of the plants This prepares the plants to go into autumn and winter and they won t require any further attention until next spring he noted That s unless it doesn t rain but even then they just need to turn on their automatic drip irrigation system to water the plants Making honey Overall their operation is a lot more streamlined than it was in the beginning Back then the preponderance time-consuming work happened when they were extracting the honey and processing it using antiquated equipment We had a hand crank extractor and we were doing it in a small structure Richard mentioned The bees would smell the honey and they d cover the whole outside of the building and they would be all at the window wanting to get inside But now we have a more secure area where we do that and we use stainless steel extractors He commented processing the honey is really a lot of fun I love putting my finger in the fresh honeycomb with honey in it and having a taste of that he stated It s a real experience I m not on the scale of a commercial beekeeper but you know we have enough to provide for ourselves and our family and literally quite a bit more for the general citizens We sell out almost every year I enjoy managing the beehives observing the bees and seeing how they survived in their colonies and in nature And of discipline the delicious honey In the beginning Richard was a member of the Sonoma County Beekeepers Association and declared he learned a lot from their knowledgeable members He declared he d recommend the organization to anyone interested in keeping bees When colony collapse disorder began happening Richard kept an eye on his bees to keep them healthy without using medication or chemicals of any kind Instead he uses a very simple approach I mostly just try to keep the bees in a good clean hive a good atmosphere with sources of clean water for the hives he announced I don t feed my bees any other substances other than the honey and the nectar and pollen that they collect So it s kind of up to the bees to stay healthy I ve been very fortunate for the bulk part Part of it is keeping your fingers crossed because sometimes you just don t know why they leave or what keeps them healthy Richard declared He stated it s also central to keep the hives dry so that the bees are secure Bees like to have an inside temperature hovering right around in the high s to s he stated You want to try to manage a hive by not letting it get overcrowded so they have enough room to thrive and for the queen to lay her eggs and enough frames to store the pollen and their honey Richard noted he usually has between to hives He gets the majority of his bees by doing swarm removal for locals and revealed he captures around swarms per year People will call and a lot of them are very interested in watching me capture a swarm although I like them to be at a safe distance because I don t want anybody to get stung he explained When they are captured and in their hives that s when he enjoys sharing his hobby with others including helping them get over their fear of bees and getting stung We had a fellow from Kenya come here one time and he was the president of the Beekeepers Association in Kenya Richard revealed It was just so nice to talk to him Where he lives in Kenya they have the Africanized bees which are a really violent bee and extremely aggressive I was walking him around our beehives and he couldn t believe it He announced he could never do this at home Sharing farm life Richard noted they know they re fortunate to be doing what they love in Sonoma County where there are so multiple supportive agri-tourism organizations like the Farm Trails the Farm Bureau Sonoma County Tourism and the Petaluma Visitors Center They promote small farms and give us an opportunity to share this with lots of visitors he explained It s not just about making money it s about sharing our experiences with people That great promotion attracted the Culinary Institute of America who brought people to the farm and a PBS channel from Delaware who visited and filmed commercials there as well The exposure has attracted visitors from all across the country and from around the world who came to visit the little Lavender Bee Farm Over the years we ve had chosen great attention out here and it s just been a wonderful experience Richard disclosed When we first talked about this neither one of us ever thought that we would have all these great experiences and meet all these people during these last years you know it s just been absolutely wonderful Go to lavenderbeefarm com for more information and to order products online You can also call Richard and JoAnn Wallenstein at - - to arrange a visit to the Lavender Bee Farm store