Boyne City woman is living in a lavender paradise
Boyne City — Just a bit off the beaten path where many GPS devices are rendered virtually useless, Linda Longworth has created a lavender paradise and handmade cottage industry, one fragrant plant at a time.
Longworth’s cousin, Jan Ruback, wrote to tell me about the farm that features a whole line of handmade lavender-based products and offers craft classes after I put a call out to readers for “made in Michigan” destinations to visit this summer. I’m glad Ruback got in touch because a stop at Lavender Hill Farms in Boyne City during a recent vacation with my family proved to be a fabulous handmade destination.
Getting to the farm proved challenging when our GPS led us to the wrong location and then a fallen tree blocked the correct road and forced us to find an alternate route. But when we finally arrived, Longworth did not disappoint.
Roughly 7,000 plants representing more than 20 lavender varieties greeted us in the fields. Planted in neat rows with space for guests to walk in between, Longworth’s mass herb collection creates stunning purple stripes on 2.5 acres of land. (The fields were beautiful when we were there July 7, and we arrived before all the plants were in full bloom. Prime viewing runs through the end of the month.)
