The Carousel Farm is located in historic Bucks County PA, just outside
of the Delaware River town of New Hope (90 minutes from NYC, and
45 minutes outside of Philadelphia).
The Carousel Farm, first established in
1748, has had many lives over the centuries, once a dairy farm,
later a horse farm and, in the mid-20th century, an exotic
animal farm. When we moved to the farm 6 years ago, our
challenge was to put our unique imprint on the farm,
maintaining its rural beauty, yet enhancing it with something
beyond.
The inspiration for Carousel Farm Lavender
came when we were traveling through the beautiful Provence
countryside, where the rolling hills are graced with old grape
vines and lavender fields, against a stunning backdrop of
centuries-old fieldstone barns and farmhouses. Our farm, with
its fieldstone farmhouse, 18th century stone barn and rolling
fields broken only by fieldstone walls, seemed the perfect
place to replicate the South of France.
Our fields, now over three years old, are
nothing short of amazing. Despite our initial worry that the
harsh Northeast climate might not be ideal for the project,
after testing the soil we carefully selected four
varieties of plants, both French and English, and the plants
are flourishing. We have over 15,000 organically-grown plants,
each one planted, pruned and harvested by hand. The beauty of
our fields is attested to by the many of local painters and
photographers who spend their days drawing inspiration from the
fields.
As you can tell, we are proud of our
lavender fields, but perhaps we are most proud that, despite
the striking natural beauty of Bucks County, we have
found a way to enhance this historic community with something
at once rural, beautiful, unique, and--yes--all organic!
