Picking fresh lavender during the warmth of summer is a Bucket List experience for plant and nature lovers, one that conjures visions of tranquil frolicks in the French countryside and other Edenic pursuits.
For those living in the DMV area, however, Soleado Lavender Farm in Dickerson, Maryland offers a limited number of pick-your-own lavender events every June, as well as other healing and wellness events like sound healing, intuitive movement, yoga, and “nap classes” in their on-site bamboo forest.
Ultimately, this art-informed, sustainably managed lavender farm in Montgomery County feels like one of the DMV area’s best-kept secrets– because it is. It’s a unique local experience that decidedly captures the pastoral beauty of this unique part of the country.
The land here is so lush and beautiful that it’s almost biblical, nestled into rolling, ancient clines of mountain-adjacent land; to call it charming or quaint doesn’t feel quite right, because there’s a real majesty to how the landscape unfolds that renders it both inspiring and indelible.
When I arrive to meet the owner, Sophia Watkins, on a lavender picking excursion last June, I’m surprised by how lovely and awe-inspiring the farm’s viewshed really is. After much searching online, I’d gathered that this was one of the only places where I could pick fresh lavender in the DMV area– and a hidden gem for people who want to explore a lovely, regional landscape just outside of DC.
Soon, I’m delighted to learn that Sophia and her husband, Kevin Salmeron, are both painters– a circumstance that just seems to make sense, as if somehow inevitable.
Who, after all, could appreciate the verdant curves of this romantic landscape better than artists?, I think to myself as we meander through the farm together to make our fresh lavender bouquets.
As we make our way to the lavender fields, Sophia and I discuss the culture of lavender farm management– the struggles of keeping away weeds using sustainable methods, and how beautifully a foreign plant like lavender has adapted to the region’s clay soil– before we arrive under a magnificent oak tree under which the farm’s main lavender crop is grown.
Here, Spanish lavender blooms lushly, a fragrant variety growing in cheerful purple tufts about three feet wide and spaced about one foot apart, in a series of long rows. The dotted rows are flowering heartily and smell divine, even as we approach from many feet away.
“My Grandmother bought this farm in 1962,” Sophia tells me after recounting how she started planting lavender in 2009 (they launched Soleado Lavender Farm officially in 2011).
“She is a key figure because when she sold her father’s dairy farm, she turned around and bought this one. The sale of the original farm is usually the point where farming leaves a family, so my decision to farm follows her decision to keep a farm– and it was a very conscious choice to protect farmland in this particular region,” she explains.
“My farming practice has to do with a relationship with this farm, not so much with farming [in general]. Similarly, my husband came to farming unexpectedly– to join me– and found his own interest and drive in it.”
Bees are buzzing happily at the tips of the fronds as she shows me how to clip the lavender to make a cohesive, satisfyingly full bouquet.
Pick-your-own visitors, it turns out, help Sophia’s team cut back the lavender for next season, which simultaneously keeps the plants from getting too leggy and helps her team maintain each plant’s full, dome-like shape.
During sunset pick-your-own lavender sessions, dappled sunlight blinks across a basket-covered table, where guests are invited to wrap their bouquets with gossamer purple ribbons as sun sets over the distant Sugarloaf Mountain. The views, smells, and gentle breeze here are lovely, delighting all the senses. It’s so Edenic that it almost feels like a scene from a Renaissance painting.
Under dappled sunlight in the shade of the mighty aforementioned tree, we tie the bouquets in gossamer purple ribbons to complete the process.
It is here, under the serene canopy of shade, where Sophia has previously taught a nap class, including meditation and nap, with lavender oil and an eye pillow. They held the class on the same hill where we cut our lavender because shade covers it in the afternoon, which allows guests to fully relax and drift off amongst the flowers like a vision from mythology.
From here, we move upland, passing dense rows of black raspberries along a mowed path. Soon, we enter a peaceful bamboo grove, a sheltered space on the perimeter of the property where the Soleado team holds similarly calming outdoor wellness workshops like yoga and breathwork. (They also offer restorative “man camp” retreats and lavender and herb propagation workshops– all in a day’s work.)
The comforting quiet of this secluded space– save for the pleasant, wind-addled rustle of bamboo stalks– is ethereal, and I feel my nervous system reset immediately upon sight. Lavender bouquet swaddled cozily in my arms, I feel time slow down, and a strong but pleasant yearning to take a nap.
The bamboo grove is one of the farm’s subtle attractions that make Soleado unique in its community-oriented approach to land management. It’s a lovely place to practice mindfulness amid plants that are famous for inducing it. All of this undergirds a beautiful sense of place that makes Soleado Lavender Farm truly special.
To practice yoga or breathwork on a lavender farm, moreover, is sort of like eating a baguette in Paris– it just makes sense, and once you do it here, you can’t imagine doing it anywhere else.
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Leaving the farm with fresh-cut lavender is a real treat, but the products for sale on-site make the experience even better.
At Soleado’s on-site market, guests can purchase artisanal products like lovely, fragrant little lavender sachets (tagged with the Maryland flag), as well as handmade products like emollient lavender bar soap (no chemicals or junk, with a gorgeously smooth hand-feel!), lavender essential oil (steam distilled in small batches, of course), and dried lavender bouquets (which, like every item made here, is a product of the Montgomery County agricultural reserve). It’s all lovely, and each item makes a great gift.
The shop also features specific pop-ups for seasonal events like Mother’s Day– when the farm hosts a plants, art, and wine market. Soon, it’ll be stocked with super rare lavender honey, part of an ongoing collaboration between the Soleado’s team and a local beekeeper.
True lavender honey– as opposed to lavender-infused honey– is very rare in the U.S., especially on the East Coast.
These collaborations, which will culminate in an end-of-summer honey flow festival, make getting access to the farm’s real lavender honey sort of a shooting star experience; part of the magic is that it’s not so easy to find. As such, the farm’s own lavender honey will capture the unique terroir of the place; you won’t be able to find anything like it anywhere else.
Accordingly, the farm has big plans to expand its offerings across this unique and dynamic landscape.
Down the line, they’re hoping to set up a tour where guests to the lavender farm can suit up and meet with the beekeeper to learn about how lavender honey is made.
On the home front, they’ve also started making formulations for a bespoke lavender face oil and hydration serum that will feature lavender grown right here on the farm. (These products will be for sale online along with a collection of other housemade lavender products, which you can shop for here.)
Ultimately, spending time on the farm is just a lovely all-around experience. Communing with nature in this way– picking a plant like lavender, which has healing, calming properties– and doing so under the majestic bows of the giant oak tree next to the field feels like a real privilege.
Just miles from the hustle-bustle of urban DC, moreover, a different way of being reigns: one that’s grounded in slow, thoughtful living and an enlivening of the senses. Soleado– which means “sunny” in Spanish– embodies what it means to live artfully in communion with nature.
During sunset pick-your-own lavender sessions, dappled sunlight blinks across the landscape as the sun sets over the distant Sugarloaf Mountain. The views, smells, and gentle breeze at Soleado Lavender Farm are lovely, delighting all the senses. It’s so Edenic that it feels like a scene from a Renaissance painting. And ultimately– at the helm of the artists who live on site– it’s even more beautiful.
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To see the full calendar of events at Soleado Lavender Farm, or to book tickets to pick your own lavender, go here.
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