New Rochester Lavender Farm Offers Byproducts and Bundles of Many Varieties

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Jennifer Winter is a lavender connoisseur.

Where many would see identical flowers, the Rochester-based Walupt Farms owner sees each variety’s unique properties.

“There’s about as many different types of lavender as there are roses, and they smell different,” Winter said. “Other varieties don’t produce as much oil but are sweeter, it’s more floral. They say that this one variety has cinnamon notes. It’s like wine and tea.”

A full-time physician’s assistant who has practiced mostly dermatology, Winter is in her first year of opening the farm to business from the public.

Products include bundles of flowers, sachets, honey, essential oil and lavender hydrosol, a byproduct of the essential oil distilling process.

Passionate about getting girls involved in science, Winter has been involved in the “Expanding Your Horizons” program at Centralia College for 20 years. The event, which is for girls in sixth through ninth grades, showcases women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers or other fields where women are underrepresented.

For most of her time in the program, Winter presented on dermatology.

Recently, she has shifted some of her content to beekeeping, farming, soil technology and other agricultural methods she uses on the farm.

“You don’t have to go into medicine if you want to go into science. There’s a lot of other options,” she said.

The lavender field buzzes with lively bees, most of which reside in one of eight hives. Winter collected 40 pounds of honey last year from the hard-working bugs. A nice bonus addition to her product line, but she originally wanted the hives for their benefit to the flowers.

Walupt Farms is also home to a large flock of chickens and a few friendly goats.

Winter applies her scientific background in the distillation of lavender essential oil, used in aromatherapy and lauded for its promotion of relaxation. The steam distilling apparatus is made from copper, which extracts the medicinal chemical camphor from the flower, leaving a sweeter taste and aroma.

Filled with two entire lavender bushes, steam rises through the copper tubes and carries the oil with it. As it drains downhill from there, it is cooled by water and poured into a mason jar. The oil and water naturally separate, and Winter collects the oil from the top.

The water at the bottom of the jar, or lavender hydrosol, is a fragrant liquid which she sells as a linen spray. Because so little oil comes from this process, 15 milliliters costs $20, but only a few drops are needed for most applications.

For now, Walupt Farms is open only by appointment, or products can be purchased online at waluptfarms.com.

Walupt Farms

Phone: 360-870-7921

Email: waluptfarms@gmail.com

Address: 19441 Jordan Street SW, Rochester