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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2019)
8 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD AGRI-BUSINESS OCTOBER 2019 For the love of lavender Cliff and Michelle Curtis discovered the soil on their Baker Valley farm is ideal for the fl owers By Lisa Britton For the Baker City Herald Cliff Curtis doesn’t like to say he raises fl owers. Yet the rows of purple lavender waving in the late summer breeze belie his claim. Curtis does raise fl owers — he has 2,000 lavender plants on his property along Pocahontas Road in Baker Valley. But the blossoms aren’t the only part of the business. “I never thought I’d grow fl ow- ers. I claim to be in the oil busi- ness,” he said. Cliff and his wife, Michelle, prepared the soil for 100 plants in 2016. He calls it his test plot. “Just to see if this was some- thing I wanted to do,” he said. His reason for researching lav- ender was to fi nd a crop that didn’t require so much time. “I was getting tired of doing live- stock — the 24/7 part of it,” he said. Then he remembered seeing a lavender farm near Condon, which has a similar climate to Baker Valley. Lavender, he discovered, likes well-drained rocky soil. “That’s all we’ve got,” Cliff said. The plant prefers soil on the dry side, which alleviates the need for extensive irrigation, and requires at least seven hours of sunlight daily. Lavender, with its strong scent, is not palatable to gophers or deer. “The deer don’t like it — that was huge,” Cliff said. One critter will much it, though. “Voles do like it quite a bit,” he said. He lost 19 of his 100 plants to voles the fi rst year — 19% of his crop. Although the varieties of laven- der he buys are rated for Zone 5, Baker Valley winters sometimes Lisa Britton/For the EO Media Group Cliff Curtis is experimenting with various varieties of lavender. Some have purple fl owers; oth- ers are white. Lisa Britton/For the EO Media Group Cliff Curtis examines a sample of lavender oil he and his wife, Michelle, distill from the fl owers they grow on their Elkhorn Peak Lavender farm in Baker Valley. “I never thought I’d grow fl owers. I claim to be in the oil business.” — Cliff Curtis, who produces oil from his 2,000 lavender plants take a toll, especially if there isn’t snow to insulate against frigid temperatures. “I still get a little winter kill,” he said. The Curtis property now has 2,000 plants in its fourth season. The couple planted both French and English varieties. The fl owers bloom in various shades of purple, although some types produce white blossoms. The French varieties are known to produce more oil; English laven- der is used for culinary purposes. Last year Cliff loaded his pickup with lavender cuttings and hauled it to the Portland area to be dis- tilled for oil. “I came home with a quart,” he said. He wasn’t convinced there was a local market for lavender products. “I wasn’t sure if it would sell, but people loved it,” he said. The Curtises sell under the name Elkhorn Peak Lavender, an homage to the mountains loom- ing as a backdrop to the property. They’ve sold products at local farmers markets and individually to be used in skin care items. After the Portland trip, Cliff decided to invest in his own equip- ment to distill the oil. He bought a traditional copper still made in Portugal by a com- pany that’s been in the business since 1837. He starts distilling in July when plants have 50% to 100% bloom. The fl ower buds contain the most oil, but some is extracted from the leaves and stems as well. The still is placed over a pro- pane burner with water contained in the bottom bulb. The center piece is stuffed with lavender col- lected from about 28 plants. As the water turns to steam, it rises through the lavender and releases the oil. The steam, now containing oil particles, moves through a tube called the “bird’s beak” and through coils inside another cop- per container full of cold water. As the steam condenses into liquid form, the oil rises to the top and drips through a tube into a beaker. The water fl ows into a fi ve-gal- lon container. This is called hydro- sol — or fl oral water — because it still contains a bit of lavender oil. Cliff collects 8 to 12 ounces of oil from each distillation. See Lavender/Page 10
