Meet Your Local Farmer: Cynthia Sutphin of the Cape Cod Lavender Farm
Cape Codders will swing into spring and support local agriculture at the Meet Your Local Farmers event on March 28th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School (351 Pleasant Lake Avenue in Harwich). It’s going to be a hootenanny, so save the date!
The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) and the Orleans Farmers’ Market. Last year’s affair was attended by more than 1,700 people, who chatted with farmers, purchased local produce, fish, meat and handcrafted products, and marveled at farm animals, including Scottish Highland cattle, a horse, a pig and a Flemish Giant rabbit.
Cape Cod Lavender Farm scenes. Photo by Stephanie Foster
As we gear up for this exciting event, we thought it would be fun to meet some of the local farmers who will be attending. This week, we had the chance to speak with Cynthia Sutphin of the Cape Cod Lavender Farm and ask a few questions about what it was like to be a farmer on Cape Cod:
Tell us a little about your farm, where it is located, and what you produce.
We have the Cape Cod Lavender Farm, located in Harwich, right off of Route 124 and we grow several thousand lavender plants. We’ve been in business for 32 years, and some of my plants are 32 years old.
Lavender flowers once a year, so the harvest is once a year. It’s a very short window of time. It starts the last week in June, and goes through the first two weeks of July.
At that time, we harvest all the lavender that’s in bloom. We hang it to sell fresh by the bunch, and if we don’t sell out by the end of the day, we hang it in the shop, and it sells the next morning. Then the pickers are back first thing in the morning and they pick bunches for the day. During the season, we have thousands of visitors.
I also have a still (a device used to extract aromatic compounds). So, I distill lavender six or eight times a year during the harvest. We make two products out of what gets distilled, a pillow spray and a face toner.
What are the rewards of farming on Cape Cod?
I love getting my hands dirty. That’s why I started the farm. I love growing things and I wanted to grow something that nobody else was growing, and nobody else was growing lavender. I wanted the farm to be productive and bring in some money.
I raised my kids here on the farm, all four of them. They’re thrilled with how the lavender farm has grown. Now, I have nine grandchildren who love being here. They’re all under the age of 13, and they pick lavender and hang around the shop greeting people. It’s really fun!
The Cape Cod Lavender Farm in Harwich. Courtesy Cape Cod Lavender Farm
What are the challenges?
The biggest thing is weeds. Most of the lavender plants that we harvest now are 30 years old. And most of them are still producing. I add some plants every year to keep it young. But it’s not like a field of corn or beans, where it’s really labor intensive.
But weeds need to be removed, because we are organic and don’t put any chemicals in the ground. My weeding crew consists of a woman who has worked for me for 11 years–she has picked every last weed out of this field every year. She’s a dental hygienist, so she’s really particular. When she’s weeding the lavender field it’s almost like she’s taking care of somebody’s teeth!
How does the Meet Your Local Farmers event benefit your business and the community?
It’s the local flavor. I feel like I know nine people out of 10 that stop by my table. Farmers get to make some money and engage with the community. And a big benefit for farmers is meeting our colleagues, all of our friends who are growing something or raising something or making something. The “localness” of Meet Your Farmers is beautiful.
SAVE THE DATE: The Meet Your Local Farmers event will bloom on March 28th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School (351 Pleasant Lake Avenue in Harwich). Hope to see you there!
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