A Magical Hour at Orchard View Lavender Farm
In western New Jersey, in Port Murray, lies Orchard View Lavender Farm. Approximately an hour and a half drive from NYC, this small lavender farm boasts not only lavender fields, but also a shop, a special event venue, historical buildings, and is home to its owners.
Sounds like a lot, right?
Let me take you through our visit to the farm!
The Wedding Venue
As you walk up the short winding path from the parking lot, one of the first things you will notice is the special event patio. Surrounded by mulched garden plots, the reddish brick patio has several sections. The “centerpiece” section has a lattice-covered pergola with soft lavender-colored curtains—perfect for a wedding ceremony! The patio gardens are full of various flowers and lavender plants. It is a peaceful spot for a small wedding.
The Buildings
The other part you will notice at first glance are the various wooden buildings, many of them with historical significance to the area. Apparently the property originates from 1765! Walking past the special event venue, there is a large house on your left and several smaller buildings on your right. The house is where the farm’s owners live. The smaller buildings, however, are part of the farm’s attractions. You can walk through a replica of an old blacksmith shop, for instance.
If you’re like me at all, you’ll be especially thrilled to note that there are restrooms available in one small building as well. Each gender has a single stall bathroom available. I found them to be clean and well kept.
The Shop
Normally at lavender farms you can expect to find the standard fare of lavender goods: soaps, sachets, essential oil, and simple syrup. However, Orchard View’s shop goes far beyond the expected! This shop is literally packed full of items on display. You can choose anything from delicate china dishes to tablecloths to soaps to culinary delights. Everything is, of course, inspired by lavender. Need a lavender-decorated teapot or lavender-embroidered hand towel? The shop has it!
I was particularly amazed by the selection of bath soaps. Usually shops have a lavender bath soap and possibly one other scent, like rose or lemongrass. However, this shop stayed with the lavender scent…and then mixed it with other scents! So you can choose a lavender patchouli soap, a lavender lemongrass, a lavender cedar wood, and even a lavender pumpkin soap. For the record, the lavender pumpkin smelled AMAZING and seemed quite popular with only a few left in stock that day. The soap I’ve tried, the plain lavender scent, has left my skin smelling nice and feeling clean.
The other items I was happy to find were the lavender food items. You can chose to dull the hunger pangs via lavender shortbread cookies, cupcakes, chocolates, or ice cream—a perfect choice for the summertime! My husband and I chose to try the cupcakes and the ice cream, splitting both. After purchasing, we went outside to the patio seating, which incidentally has a view of the lavender field. We first enjoyed our ice cream, made by a local ice cream shop using lavender from Orchard View. We had the raspberry lavender ice cream, which had a slight lavender flavor in the midst of the stronger raspberry tang. The other ice cream option was lavender honey. The cupcakes were a selection of lavender chocolate (chocolate cake and icing) and lavender lemon. I was a bit disappointed in the lavender lemon, finding it too sweet, but the lavender chocolate was on point.
The Fields
The lavender fields are the furthest item from the parking lot. I would venture to call it a “field” in the singular, as they are actually fairly small. However, it does pack plenty rows of lavender plants with lawn chairs around the edge for relaxing. As you enter the fenced-in field area, to your right will be the English lavender half of the field and to your left (and in front of you) will be the French lavender half. This year we visited in the second half of June and our timing was such that the English lavender was in bloom while the French lavender was preparing to bloom. As the French lavender generally has a stronger smell, we found the lavender scent slightly weaker than expected due to the English only being in bloom.
To stay updated on their lavender bloom, which can vary each year due to weather, please visit the farm’s website. As a general rule, plan to visit sometime between June and August.
I really enjoyed our visit, as it was a nice escape from city life and without an extremely long drive. The farm had varying attractions, prefect to keep from getting bored from one item—and perfect if you are going with friends with varying interests! Sitting on the shop’s patio with an ice cream or in the lavender field is a perfect way to unwind on a warm summer day. We left the farm ready to face any stress waiting for us in the coming week.
