MILTON, Pa. — Blue Sparrow Farm sits along Route 147 just outside Milton. Pam Harper bought the property in 2021 and started farming.
"Then we decided to get some lavender. Then we got more lavender and more and more and more. We had 200 plants, and then we just keep adding to it," Pam Harper said.
Harper currently has 700 lavender plants and plans to add more every year. She says, like most farming, lavender is very weather-dependent. It needs a mixture of rain and sunshine to grow. Harper says the recent drought did not help.
"Even though we irrigate as much as possible, it's not the same as natural rain. Also, we had a bad winter. We had a winter where it was hot, cold, hot, cold, and we lost about 200 plants," Harper said.
This weekend, Harper will open the farm to the public for the Pennsylvania Lavender Festival. It's the first of many events she hopes to hold here. The two-day festival will feature live music, food and craft vendors, a fishing derby, and of course, lavender.
Harper will teach people about the growing process, give tours, and sell lavender plants.
"We encourage people to bring a chair, bring a pop-up tent. Sit, relax, and listen to the music. Enjoy the fields, walk down by the water, relax, and have a good time," Harper said.
The Pennsylvania Lavender Festival is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Blue Sparrow Farm.
Tickets are available online.
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