When Beth Downs and her family bought a historic lavender farm in Millville, she wasn’t even sure she liked lavender.
All she knew was the artificial scent she had smelled in soaps and candles, and she didn’t care for it. But on Tuesday, standing among rows of real lavender that bloomed earlier this spring, brushing her fingers over the soft purple and white flowers and breathing in the fresh, floral air, she said she has grown to love it — and the life it has brought to her family.
“Lavender is just something that’s really healing,” Downs said, gazing out over the fields of bright purple that stretch across her property. “A lot of people are drawn to lavender itself. And this place is quiet, it’s away from the main city, and I think people are drawn to it.”
In recent weeks, the quiet farm has been buzzing — not just with the bumblebees the flowers attract, but also with preparation for the annual Lavender Festival, which Downs and her family will host on their property this Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
More than 30 artisans and vendors will set up along the fence line, surrounding the farm’s lavender fields, where visitors can grab a pair of scissors and pick their own bundles. The festival will also feature a full lineup of live music, including a professional storyteller, a yodeler, the Utah Old Time Fiddlers, and several other local musicians. Guests can enjoy lavender lemonade made from the farm’s own plants, alongside treats from a bakery.
Pony and wagon rides will also be available to visitors, Downs said.
“They could just come,” she said. “They don’t have to even spend any money and have a great experience. Or they can get themselves some lemonade and sit in the apple orchard and enjoy the beautiful day.”
Historic farm
Drawn by its fruit trees, Downs and her family moved to the Lavender Apple Farm in 2021 after learning it was for sale.
The story of the farm begins more than a century ago, when John and Hanna Nelson immigrated from Sweden and purchased the land. For generations, the Nelson family cared for the orchard and farm, and it became a cherished family homestead.
Its signature lavender fields were introduced much later, in 2009, by Mike and Peggy Nelson. After falling in love with lavender while living in France, the couple planted the fields and began bringing a touch of Provence to Cache Valley. They also started the Lavender Apple brand, selling a variety of products made from the farm’s own lavender.
“It was their love of France,” Downs said. “They remodeled the house to look like France. They just loved that culture and everything about it. So that’s what they were trying to recreate here.”
When none of the Nelson family members were able to continue the business, the Downs family took over in 2021, becoming the first owners outside the Nelson family to steward this historic farm.
Ever since, Downs and her husband have run the farm and business with the help of their six children. For the Downs family, running the Lavender Apple is a combination of hard work and learning together, she said.
“It’s an honor,” Downs said, “to be able to take it over.”
Lavender everything
The farm is a special project that brings her family together, she said — they hand-cut the lavender in small bundles, distill its oil right after picking to keep it fresh and strong, hang the bundles to dry, and store them for later use.
The family then uses the lavender in a variety of products they sell online and in local stores, including essential oils, lotions, soaps, lip balms, dryer bags, sachets, bath salts, and sprays. They also offer therapeutic lavender rice bags that can be microwaved.
In addition to personal care items, Downs said they have a culinary line including lavender buds, simple syrup, sugar, and lavender-infused honey made with Cache Valley honey.
“We hope that we’re helping small businesses and musicians and helping to create growth for a lot of people,” she said, “not just our own family.”
The idea for the Lavender Festival came about simply from a dream, Downs said. She was teaching a homeschool class where the students had a project to create something and sell it at a market. When local markets didn’t work out, she decided to create one herself.
After dreaming up wagon wides, vendors and all the festival details, they held their first event in 2022. Downs said the festival began small, with an estimated 2,000 visitors that year, and grew to around 10,000 people last year.
“I love to have a place that my community can come,” Downs said. “It’s really neat to have something like this, that we’re offering the community something that we hope is wholesome and something that’s beautiful and blesses everyone involved.”
For her, running a business has always been about more than just making a living. Her goal has been to help others build self-reliance and to provide support for those in need. Because of this, the festival will feature a booth run by the Compassionate Entrepreneurs Club, a group started by Downs’ close friend to support people in Uganda. The club’s members, including Downs’ children, will be selling handmade lavender wands to raise money for small business loans.
In past years, the club has helped fund a Leadership and Literacy Center in Uganda, providing books and resources for children learning to read. This year, the money raised will help a young man start a store selling staple foods, Downs said.
“It will change his whole life,” she said. “It will change everything for him, plus provide jobs for other people there.”
