Lavender Fields Forever: Kendall Co. couple's production flourishes

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Susan Johnson (pictured) and husband Billy have encompassed the lavender production business. They have about 5,000 plants on their Hill Country farm. -- Staff photo by Taylor

July 29, 2004 - After the kids are grown and the city traffic starts to be too much, what do you do?

If you asked Susan and Billy Johnson, formerly of West Lake in Austin, their answer was pack up and move to the Hill Country!

According to Billy, the couple had always "dreamed of living in the Hill Country," and when the opportunity came around, he and Susan looked at available real estate in the Fredericksburg area. What they settled on was an old, limestone house on 18 acres tucked in the edge of Kendall County, near the community of Grapetown.

After making the move in the summer of 2002, the Johnsons "restored" the home to meet their needs and started looking to a future in the Hill Country. Both Billy and Susan are agents for State Farm insurance, with Billy commuting to Austin, most days, and Susan working in Fredericksburg.

Once they were settled in, the Johnsons decided they needed to do something with the land to make it more productive, although neither had a farming background. After a visit to a lavender farm in the area, they decided their property should be a great place to raise a crop of lavender, too.

Billy added there are about five other lavender farms in the area, with more coming on board each year.

The harvested lavender is hung to dry. Besides lavender, Triple L Farm owners have keyed on Labradors and log cabins. -- Staff photo by Taylor

Without doing any "recommended" soil testing on the farm, Billy and Susan, along with several really good friends, planted the first 3,700 lavender plants in the fall of 2002. Another 1,300 plants were added in the fall of 2003.

Laughing, Billy remembered the first planting was to be a "Planting Party," complete with a band, catering, and all the works. But after several days of rain, they had to cancel the "real" party; yet several old friends came, determined to get the plants in the muddy ground. At the end of the initial planting, they all celebrated with a champagne toast, mud and all!

Billy explained the lavender plants were about four inches tall, when planted, and cost about $1.50 each. After six months the plants were producing six to eight blooms. By a year and a half, the plants were producing 60 blooms per plant, and in another year, each plant is expected to produce around 200 blooms.

Lavender plants like lots of hot sunshine, little water and dry weather. Billy and Susan planted their lavender on a hillside, where the drainage is good. The plants bloom between May and June, with another blooming around October. By the time the plants are mature, at 3-years-old, each plant should be three-feet by three-feet.

Although deer do not eat lavender, the Johnsons found out ... during the first year ... that they will pull the plants up before deciding they don't want to eat them! After that minor disaster, the Johnsons invested in a tall, "deer-proof" fence to keep the estimated 165,000 deer (in Kendall and Gillespie counties) out of the lavender fields, according to Billy.

Along with the lavender plants, the Johnsons have peach and apple trees, and are planning to add to those crops, too.

"It's just a hobby that's gotten out of hand," laughed Billy.

Working with the land isn't the only interest the Johnsons share. On the hill above the lavender sits log cabins they had moved from Tennessee and Kentucky. Someday, they hope to have them restored for guest lodging.

Yellow Labradors are ever present with the Johnsons, too, and Billy said their "Triple L Farm" name comes from "lavender, log cabins and labs," three of their loves, along with four, grown children and one grandchild.

This summer, the farm was opened to the public to come and pick lavender. According to the Johnsons' literature, lavender has four lives: The blooms can be used as fresh, cut blooms, dried blooms, buds for potpourri and the stems for bar-b-que or fireplaces.

"There is a growing market for Texas lavender oil, too," said Susan.

Once the plants reach 3-years-old, they can be classified as organic, and the cut blooms can be distilled and made into lavender oil.

The variety the Johnsons grow is Provence, and they chose it because it is big, has great color and the aroma is delightful.

According to the Texas Hill Country weather, the Johnsons are hoping and planning on another cutting in October, and will, again, open their farm to the public. Along with the blooms, the Johnsons have a trading post where visitors may purchase a number of lavender products, along with antiques ... another love of Susan's.

By December, the plants will be cut back by about one-third, and the waiting process will start all over again ... hoping for a good crop in 2005.

While the time involved in the lavender crop is more intensive than the Johnsons thought, both Billy and Susan wouldn't trade places with anyone.

The best part of being lavender farmers for Susan is "the fun involved in working and learning" about the lavender, and Billy likes meeting the people who admire the crop, and, too, he said he enjoys "doing something with the land."

(To learn more about the farm: www.lllfarms.com)