Lavender Trails holding annual Vendor Days
For $10 at Orrville’s Lavender Trails, a visitor can pick from 100-150 stems in a bundle. Those can be hand-picked, or people can buy prebundled stems.
Jim and Amy Duxbury are about three things: environment, education and community. Maybe in that order, maybe not, since they’re simultaneous concerns for the Orrville couple.
Both teachers, the Duxburys wanted to teach outside of school as well as in. Jim Duxbury teaches environmental science.
About five years ago, they found their project — their lavender adventure as they call it. Choosing a brownfield — usually a piece of undeveloped land that may have been polluted or contaminated due to industrial use — on the northeast side of town, the Duxburys created Lavender Trails, a 4-acre plot dedicated to the mostly purple but sometimes white or pink flowering plants from the mint family.
“Lavender is actually a wonderful plant,” Jim Duxbury said. “It’s very hearty. It’s a Mediterranean plant. It wants full sun and no water, which is a little challenging here in Orrville. It’s one of those that once you get it established, it does very well.”
On July 9 and 16, Lavender Trails will host its fourth annual Vendor Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, weather permitting. The juried events will feature handmade works from local artisans who are not charged to participate.
“This year we’re going to have two food trucks, live music and over 20 vendors out there,” Jim Duxbury said. “Client-wise, our attendance estimate last year was over 600 people in one day. That’s a lot of persons moving in and out of a 4-acre area.”
With Orrville’s annual Fourth of July festivities wrapping up on July 8, the times were perfect for the Lavender Trails events.
“This year our Vendor Sundays are July 9 and 16, and that fits right into our community,” Duxbury said. “We want to bring as many people out to learn the story of how you can take a brownfield and make it green.”
Twenty percent of the proceeds from entrance fees to the back-to-back Sunday events will go to the Down Syndrome Association of Northeast Ohio. The Duxburys said in each of the first three years of the events, they have been able to write a $2,500 check to the association.
So why lavender?
“It is not my first choice,” Duxbury said. “We looked at a tree farm, we looked at blueberries and they’re all wonderful. They all have their challenges and advantages. Lavender, when you get it established, there’s very little care for it. And there are tremendous benefits. Lavender has been used over the centuries in essential oils, embalming, ADHD medication, things for pets, a flea retardant, you name it. It just makes people smile.”
The Duxburys have more than 2,500 plants on hand now, encompassing nine species. Their field is full of educational signage for people wanting to learn a bit.
“You’re not going to walk off our field without learning something,” Duxbury said. “We want to make sure it’s the full experience.”
Those who want to take some lavender home can do so as well. For $10 a visitor can pick from 100-150 stems in a bundle. Those can be hand-picked, or people can buy prebundled stems.
Some new things this year at the site include an 8-foot Adirondack chair for pictures, a wall ball for kids and a coloring area, also for youngsters.
Lavender Trails opened for the summer on Friday. Plants are available to be cut Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Thursday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is open on the Fourth of July.
The cost for entry is $5 per person. Register and pay online or just walk in. Children age 8 and under are free.