53: Part II Living Lavender with Renee Ellsworth

Michael Dugan: 0:52

What would you say some of your most popular culinary lavender products or

Renee Ellensworth: 0:57

I would say the lavender honey. We probably had that on the shelves for a week and as soon as it was time to harvest the hives, it just flew out of the barn.

Michael Dugan: 1:08

But okay,

Renee Ellensworth: 1:10

I would say second to that we People came from far and wide. We partnered with Lopez Island Creamery to make our legacy fields custom lavender Ice Cream Sandwich that has deeply rich brownie textured chocolate cookie with a very light flavored lavender ice cream and a generous portion of that insight is just to die for.

Michael Dugan: 1:38

Okay, you're seriously culinary connected now. You got it. You got

Renee Ellensworth: 1:43

it's hard to crave ice cream when there's snow outside but if no one's watching I might eat to make myself sick but it is so good.And then for folks who prefer the non dairy variety we made a or Lopez Island Creamery rather made a lavender lemon sorbet.And just what just amazing. We had a couple of of guests come out to the farm and get some containers of that to put scoops into Prosecco for like a bridal party. Now we're talking these people are genius. But the ice cream is a hit. We have lavender lemonade. We have infused chocolate. We have lavender infused honey, so the natural honey and the hives here on the farm don't have a distinct lavender flavor. The bees just feast on the lavender. But we also have an infused honey where you will definitely pick up the notes of lavender in that honey jams and preserves and syrups a ton it's lavender so versatile.And if is leery of having a lavender flavored something rather it's probably because they at one point in time,tasted a product that that had like a hint of a soapy flavor in there. Like

Michael Dugan: 3:04

You know, I hadn't tasted that before.

Renee Ellensworth: 3:09

No one was cleaning products in their food and I guess, but chances are they had the wrong variety in part of my joy is teaching chefs and bakeries. Exactly what cultivars to use when you're making infusion.

Michael Dugan: 3:27

Oh, let's talk about that.

Renee Ellensworth: 3:30

Really good question.So we've had a couple This is season number two for us. So we're brand new baby farmer, but we have a list of people who have asked about culinary lavender and so this year will be a lot of fun because we are going to have doubled the yields we had last year. And you know it just it keeps increasing year over year when these plants get larger. But bakeries love a white chocolate chip and lavender cookie, sell it to you know, like one of our downtown bars will make lavender infused cocktails and make a simple syrup with a gin tonic is delicious. What I enjoy is a glaze and put it on something more savory. So you can do you know everyone's heard of herbs de provence, and that usually has a blend of herbs, including lavender. And if they're good,they're picking the right lavenders Melissa is a cultivar that is a pink peddled lavender,and it has kind of a spicy citrusy floral, it's just an incredible flavor. But there's there's a lot of folks who are very interested. And a lot of people in the community came and picked bundles of culinary lavender to make gifts for the holidays. Lovely mother for a lavender, vanilla infused vanilla or infused vodka. And so just a ton of options.

Michael Dugan: 5:02

Okay. Any specific like, can you throw in any names that have restaurants or chefs that you've worked with?

Renee Ellensworth: 5:09

Well, I have to give a shout out to rocks and dirt bakery. This gal She's incredible. She lives out on Camino Island. And she doesn't have an official brick and mortar amazing recipes and concoct these great twists and turns to allow for her, you know, dietary needs and sensitive palates and stomachs.And so if you have an allergy or an affliction, that she will insert in her recipes, what to swap things out for and I think that's just brilliant. Well,it's just so helpful. It's just very inclusive and it makes everyone feel empowered that you know, the last thing you want is for people to approach cooking and creating with I can't. Start with I can't she definitely puts that out there right in the beginning like you absolutely can, you know, people who have celiac or you know, like there,there's a lot of issues that people need to bob and weave and maneuver around. makes that so easy. I would definitely point people to rocks and dirt bakery.She's really great here in the Pacific Northwest and just just an incredible person. So check her out. But yeah, we partnered with with a bakery out of Arlington. And they, became fast friends. We were actually Farmers Market buddies. They were right next to us in farmer's market. And it's Hammond bakery. Or just a hoot everyone they're down to the management and back of the kitchen staff just an amazing individuals. But during our grand opening, we wanted to offer a couple of lavender specific cookies like a shortbread.So good. And they knocked it right out of the

Michael Dugan: 7:03

Oh,park.This is the kind that doesn't like, like you said the culinary lavender is. Yes.It's tasty. And it's not. How did you put it? Yeah, it's not soapy.You wouldn't want to say that.But yeah. Oh, it's so interesting. My mom watched my soap as a kid. Right? Yeah. So I mean, that would not be a great memories.

Renee Ellensworth: 7:37

Likely not her favorite lavender soap,though. Yes. It wouldn't be you know, the Irish Spring was. Yes,a little goes a very long way.And that takes some playing. And I think if if there are chefs out there, they, they listening,they they'd like to play in the kitchen and tweak, effect, and taste and sample and try again and continue to infuse and simmer down and concentrate. And

Michael Dugan: 8:05

that is why they're chefs there. Right?Yeah.

Renee Ellensworth: 8:09

Artists and mad scientists all Yeah, that's true. One gift of a human being.It's just fun. And it's honestly untapped territory. We know, we know. We're constantly learning the benefits of lavender, you know, like the terpenes different pigments that your scent receptors take straight to your brain. And like all the beneficial and neurological effects of aromatherapy and what it can do for people. Then,lavender is just chock full of them like camphor and eucalyptus oil, all of those things inspire different effects. For people,it's fascinating pain management, antidepressant, anti anxiety, there's neuro protective elements and lavender antispasmodic effects in in like therapeutic actions. That's not even touching the topical benefits of lavender, the anti microbial and fungal and bacterial things truly amazing.But we haven't even begun to scratch the surface on the benefits of culinary uses, and the benefits of consuming the different cultivars used in cooking and baking. So I think that there's so much to explore with lavender, every bit of this plant is incredible. And I hope one day chefs and bakers were will really get into it and want to play.

Michael Dugan: 9:48

To me, like I love learning how chefs explore,you know, new realms, right? And this is, this isn't. It's been around for a long time, but it's really, it's not been touched on that much, I think. And it may because it may be because of the soap concept, right? Yeah,people don't know. Visual. Yeah,right. So I would say or you've already really kind of hit it pretty hard. But how would you summarize what you love most about being a lavender farmer and what keeps you motivated to continue doing this?

Renee Ellensworth: 10:29

Summarize asking me to summarize anything is a tall order. I think honestly, it's categorized into two buckets. There's the total personal answer, and then the lavender answer and personal. A truly, I wanted to have a deeper connection to my soil what we grew what we ate time to prepare it. Now I have that slowing life down and having meals as a family. Collecting the produce into a basket outside my kitchen and bringing it into my kitchen to create a meal has literally inspired one of my kids wants to be a chef when he grows up like me. Talk about heart trophy for the mom. Yeah, pulling the kids into the kitchen, watch it happen. But not just that, but have time and patience to do that. whole, like, oh, Drew is15 You just got to do which is shaving years off my life and Kara is 17.

Michael Dugan: 11:34

I can probably connect him to some people. I've met so many amazing chefs by doing this podcast that are so giving and so caring, and they're just genuine. I felt, I feel so lucky to have the guests that I've had on the show.

Renee Ellensworth: 11:51

That's huge.That's huge. You know, we all know, kitchen culture can be a crunch factory. It's really you know,

Michael Dugan: 11:59

You're not naive about it. You didn't know restaurant, right?

Renee Ellensworth: 12:05

But do you like I think I want to be a professional chef. I'm like, oh,no,

Michael Dugan: 12:12

This is as close as I get. This is my, my passion, my purpose, right? I never made it as a chef I burnout. And so it's really about giving chefs an opportunity to share their stories, because in my mind,they're heroes in hospitality.So it's kind of like I, I decided not to go in that direction at one point. But I miss it, I really miss it. I really miss the people from hospitality so much, because they're so unique in the world,

Renee Ellensworth: 12:47

You're still pulling that connection close to you, which is just amazing. I feel like you know, you're staying close to your purpose.And you're going through evolutions of what you do is a vocation, the world needs this.Right? You love it, that's mission. And so you You're,you're still holding that close to you, and you're still practicing that in your life.And that is to be celebrated.And even if even if my buddy doesn't, you know, become a professional chef, if he goes into a kitchen and gets, you know, the daylights scared out of them. Right, you can totally happen. But still somewhere in that he's, you know, he's identified that as a passion, he loves it. Darn, it is a 15 year old kid, he can knock out taco night all on his own. And he's great at it. So, you know, in there, you know, I just, I feel like I'm passing on the gifts that my grandmother's gave to me and gifting it to my kids, which is come here, honey, let me feed you let me love you. Sit down,tell me about your day. Eat this. It's delicious. And, you know, it's more of a moment than it is the dish. But it can also be very much attached to the dish. So I'm so proud that that we created a lifestyle that we could even inspire him to be interested in.

Michael Dugan: 14:19

Yeah, that's,that's fantastic. Totally gone off your question. It's okay.It's okay. That's the risk of asking me to summarize.

Renee Ellensworth: 14:27

Anything,it's not going to well, like what do I love most about being lavender farmer and what keeps me motivated to continue this work. But lavender, the plant is truly healing, and every little bit of it is, is used. But really, it's the fields that grow this environment. And it's where people are, they're just drawn to it like a magnet. And they're mesmerized by the pollinators. And even the act of harvesting, we and harvest all of those plants, and we've got3300 plants growing out in our fields. And we're hand harvesting with a sickle, each one tying up bundles, hanging them in the drying loft, or, you know, gifting a fresh bundle to someone and all of that is a beautiful process in and of itself being out in the field by yourself or the two of us, my partner and I together, talking about life. You know, all of those moments are so precious to us. And if we hadn't had leaped into this risky dream, we wouldn't have this and so all of that it's deeper than just the plant but the plant itself represents relaxation. You know,people want lavender bath, they want oils in their humidifiers and all of that It is the terpenes that hit that neurological epicenter of relaxation, it immediately tells your brain that you're safe. And that's what the elements in lavender can do. And so we've created a world a life that resembles that, if that makes sense.

Michael Dugan: 16:16

It does it absolutely does. My wife turned me on the lavender. I was so naive, you know, typical guy,right? Oh, I don't need lavender. And the next thing you know, I'm going to sleep and I'm smelling lavender on my pillow and going, wow. Or asphalt,right? Yeah. And I just couldn't believe the way it felt. And she's turned me on to a lot of really cool things. Like, I'd never had a massage before. And I went, wow. Oh, yeah. Because,you know, it's just, you just don't think about those things sometimes as a guy. And she introduced me to it. And I'm like, oh, yeah, definitely want to go for a massage. You know.And of course, they have lavender there. So felt connected that way, too.

Renee Ellensworth: 17:04

You know, we live in this. We're only an hour north of Seattle.

Michael Dugan: 17:15

Describe this describe what Stanwood Camino area is because I know about it,but our listeners don't.

Renee Ellensworth: 17:24

So you've got listeners all over the world.And I applaud you for that.We're located here in the Pacific Northwest. So if you zoom out, and then I'll zoom you in, but we're here in the Pacific Northwest, but more specifically in western Washington state. And if you drive north on I5, one hour north of Seattle, and about an hour south of the Canadian border. But um, you're right there in Stanwood Camino and it's home to about 25,000 people together. Camino Island is is an Island County. Stanwood is in northern Snohomish County, but you have to go through Stanwood to get to Camino. So it's it's lumped together you know, we share a high school. But Stanwood has a small town feel and is situated right here along the Puget Sound, which is just a stone's throw to the beautiful San Juan Islands.Camino Island has two state parks for the outdoorsy and everyone in this area is outdoorsy, great shops, awesome boutiques, great little restaurants, just a very safe and friendly place to be. And I remember when my partner and I were thinking of moving north,oh, gosh, you know, here we go.You know, it's very familiar. My grandparents used to live up there, it felt like a million miles away. And when you're out here, it does feel that way. It feels very much removed from the city or urban environment for a million reasons. Like okay,well, you know, here we are two women raising two beautiful children, teenagers that are adopted and have different skin.How is this country, rural environment, you know, these these farmers and growers that we want to be a part of desperately? How are we going to fit into this community? Is it is it going to be close knit?And are we going to, you really have to struggle to belong. And I kid you not it was day one that the neighbors come over.And we're so lucky. It is it really is an incredibly supportive, and welcoming community. And so I'm veering off of geography for a minute,but I have to pour my heart out because this just serves it.It's just incredible. It really is. And you were talking about,you know, the masculine element,and being not being so quick to embrace all the wonderful elements of a flower. But I do and I've got, I've got cowboy Bill who literally has like the handlebar mustache and a hat and he's down the street who wears his suspenders and drives big pickup trucks and he will only use our lavender soap.

Michael Dugan: 20:22

Oh my god.

Unknown: 20:23

He's not going to debate it.

Renee Ellensworth: 20:27

Stanwoods great. And so fun fact, if you were looking at a map of the Puget Sound and located the Olympic Mountains in the Olympic Peninsula, you'll see the town of swim, which is kind of the lavender capital of the world right or of of North America,essentially. And swim enjoys the don't want the green shadow, and substantially less rainwater than most of us in the Puget Sound region. But that rain shadow arcs up north towards Stanwood Camano would come in out, you know, through the Puget Sound, and then onward towards Anacortes, and some call that the banana belt. And so because of that ideal soil type and squeim in that weather, they,they're successful lavender growers, and they have that very famous lavender festival every single year, and people travel all around the world to attend it. It's just really nice to enjoy those same weather benefits, and give our friends a close option to visit a large lambda firm without having to travel the distance out to the Olympic Peninsula. Although if you can do it, it's beautiful.Go. But it's nice to have to be able to offer a backyard option.You know, it feels like we're writing everyone's neighborhood.It's really nice.

Michael Dugan: 21:54

So how do we find you online?

Renee Ellensworth: 21:59

Our legacy fields.com is our website. And I'm an amateur social media er.And so I've got a Facebook page and an Instagram page. So you can find us just by some two and a quick little search for our legacy fields. And you'll you'll see that we just put a countdown calendar on our website because I saw literally crawling out of my skin with anticipation for this big season. So excited about it. Wow. But we are at the Stanwood Farmers Market, which starts before we open up the farm to the public. So it kind of gets us you know, out in the community in early in June and,just celebrating the sunny weather and the longer days with people. And then here on the farm we're open Wednesday,Thursday, Friday, Saturday,Sunday, so five days a week. And we only close Mondays and Tuesdays to weed and mow and I start carpal tunnel and but that's where that's where you'll find us and there's easy directions on how to get to us.

Michael Dugan: 23:16

Great. All Renee,I can't thank you enough for doing this. I was so excited to do this interview with you. You have changed many people's lives and you're really an inspiration for people that are going through transition and people in the hospitality industry as well.

Renee Ellensworth: 23:35

Thank you for that. Thank you