Lavender farm being developed in Sandy Point, Shelburne County
For an area not known for prime agriculture lands, another unique farm is taking root in Shelburne County.
Sherry Hill Farm in Sandy Point is being developed by Sherry Thorburn Irvine.
While the harvest is lavender, Irvine has a vision that could turn the centuries old property once owned by her great grandfather into a destination.
Irvine moved back to
Nova Scotia, her birthplace, in 2014.
“I was born at the old Roseway Hospital. My parents were young people who outmigrated from Nova Scotia to Ontario following other people from Shelburne, family and friends,” says Irvine. “My parents never ever went anywhere when we were growing up except once a year to Nova Scotia. We really did maintain our roots here.”
When Irvine arrived in 2014, she wanted to buy some real estate.
“It just so happened my great-grandfather's house came up for sale. It was actually owned by a third cousin so it was meaningful. Because it is a family home, it sucked me into a vortex for the next seven years.”
In 2017, Irvine started looking to see how she was going to develop this property. “I have tractor, I had one in in B.C.,” she says – acting on the suggestion from a friend that if she has a tractor, she needs to be in business and she needs to have a farm.
“I love growing things,” says Irvine, about coming up with the idea to start a lavender farm. “I honestly don't know anybody that doesn't love lavender. It has a beautiful scent and is the essential oil that carries us. It's not overwhelming,”
Considering Shelburne County is “not a hot bed of agriculture land,” Irvine thought lavender might do well here.
“Lavender demands good sun and demands good drainage, but what it doesn't need is good soil, so from that perspective that's awesome. Our soil is not rich soil and depending on where you are, you have to make sure the drainage is good.”
Irvine currently has 200 Phenomenal lavender plants growing on about one acre of the 43-acre property. “If I could land 2,000 plants here, I would be super happy,” she says. “It's all about the property.”
In addition to working the land to grow lavender, Irvine has spent the last seven years restoring her historic homestead, which was built in 1853. “I took it down from the inside and the outside and put it back together again,” she says.
She is also having a large timber frame barn built from locally sourced lumber. The construction is mortice and tenon, the same as the house. “This year I need to get the second floor in and the barn cladded and roof done," she says about the work.
HER VISION
Irvine has a bit of a vision for the property. She plans to build a cottage at the back of the property near a savannah where nature beckons, which could be rented out overnight to farm guests.
“In the morning they come back to the house and have breakfast with me and visit my retail shop, which I hope to get open to the public this year. So it would be an experience and ultimately I would be promoting our beaches, museums” and other local attractions, she says.
Once the barn is complete, Irvine will use the second story to dry her lavender. “What I would love to do is invite people to do yoga and mediation and have them in that space with my lavender,” she says.
With her house renovations almost complete, Irvine is going to start more lavender plants this year. “I have a really large yard on the front of the house. I want to plant there. My house is yellow. Imagine 600 lavender plants out in front of the home,” she says.
She will start working the ground this year but if the drainage isn't good, she will have to plant elsewhere on the property. Ultimately, she would like to get two acres into production.
“It's not necessary to have a massive expansive farm,” says Irvine. “There's a lot of challenges but its doable.”
Last year, a high point for Sherry Hill Farm was selling 200 lavender plants to Middle Clyde strawberry farmer Jackson Lore and helping him plant it alongside his greenhouse. “As a small fledging business that was a huge point for me,” Irvine says. “Lavender is a pollinator magnet. From his perspective he wanted it to attract the natural bee population.”
Irvine was also a frequent vendor at the Shelburne Farmer's Market last season, selling fresh and dried lavender bundles and products such as a body butter that she produced using lavender oil imported from Spain, and shea butter from a women's cooperative in Ghana.
“You need a lot of plants before you can begin to distill. I am going to distill my own plants but I'm not there yet,” she says.
ANOTHER UNIQUE VENTURE
A lavender farm is just one of the unique agricultural developments in Shelburne County over the past few years.
In 2020, the first commercial saffron farm in Nova Scotia was started in Upper Port LaTour. Coastal Grove Farms, owned by Matthew Roy and Cynthia Bazinet, are also growing other unique crops to Nova Scotia like tea and citrus in their geothermally temperature-controlled greenhouse.
Things on the farm are going really well, says Roy.
“We had a really good saffron harvest (last fall). That was great. Our biggest day was around 6,400 flowers. We're getting more interest from chefs in the Halifax area for using saffron and we've been connecting with a few chefs in the HRM, Halifax area and are going to be working exclusively with them to develop food dust,” says Roy.
“So basically taking carrot, beet, onion, chive flower, drying it and grinding it up into a powder. They use that to garnish their plate before serving, so it's an actual edible colored dust on the plate that brings another flavor into the dish. That's another unique thing we're doing now.”
In the greenhouse, the tea has overwintered well with plans for another 500 plants this year. “That's a sizable planting,” Roy says.
The citrus in the greenhouse is also going well and it just putting up new growth now, says Roy, who also has peppers and tomatoes in the ground, carrots planted and beet greens coming up.
Last year, Coastal Grove retailed their produce from a roadside stand and their greenhouse. They also supplied fresh produce to the Barrington Passage No Frills grocery store. This year, they've added the Shelburne Farmer's Market to their retail plans, as well as the Barrington Farmer's Market if it's a go.
Organic seedlings will also be retailed.
“With the positive response we've had from the community we're increasing out plantings of everything,” says Roy. “We're getting interest from all around the province for our product so that's been exciting.”
It was the climate on the South Shore that attracted
Roy and Bazinet to the area. Known as the banana belt of the province, and with climate change predictions that the area will get about two to three degree Celsius warmer by 2050 means, says Roy, “it's just going to get more and more nice down here.”
“If I could land 2,000 plants here, I would be super happy. It’s all about the property.” Sherry Irvine Sherry Hill Farm