By STEVEN JUPITER
PITTSFORD—Who doesn’t love the sight and smell of a lavender field in full bloom? The purple flowers, the frosty-green, spiky leaves, the lovely scent? And though the plant is common in Vermont summer gardens, it’s rare to see an entire farm dedicated to it. Until now.
The Paulding family—three generations strong—has turned the old Palmer house on Route 7 (just south of Oxbow Road) into the Sunshine Village Lavender Farm, growing lavender and making lavender-based products, such as lip balm, hair and beard oils, body and linen sprays.
“We stumbled on lavender after hemp didn’t work out,” said Peter Paulding, a retired police chief from Massachusetts by way of Florida. Paulding had visited Vermont for years—his brother had a ski condo in Killington—and after a friend in Middlesex started farming hemp in 2019, Paulding began looking for a farm of his own.
“We looked at 10 or 12 places,” he recalled. “Pittsford was the last one we saw and it was perfect.”
Paulding and his wife, Ruth, bought the beautiful spread at auction in 2019. It encompasses the grand brick house, built in 1831 for Thomas H. Palmer, a Scottish-born educator who originated the saying “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” a barn, an indoor riding arena, and 17 acres of pastures, woods, and streams.
Peter and Ruth did not come to Pittsford alone, however.
Of their three sons, it was adventurous Ty who agreed to join them on this journey. Ty is a licensed tattoo artist—he runs Peaks and Valleys Tattoo Studio by appointment out of the house—and has also worked as a mascot for two different professional hockey teams (the Colorado Avalanche and the Columbus Blue Jackets). He was game for this new endeavor.
Peter, Ruth, Ty, Ty’s adult son Trevor, and Trevor’s partner Cameron moved to Pittsford to give hemp farming a try. That crop didn’t work out. The Great Hemp Rush of 2019 fizzled, killing the market and leaving many who’d planted hemp fields wondering what to do. The Pauldings turned to lavender.
“We didn’t know if it would work,” said Peter. Lavender is originally Mediterranean and Vermont’s climate seemed like a poor match for a plant that loves heat and sun. The period in which conditions are suitable for lavender are quite abbreviated here in the Green Mountains. Though many Vermonters grow lavender in their summer gardens, it wasn’t clear that it could be cultivated at scale.
But somehow they’ve pulled it off. The three Paulding men went through UVM’s Master Gardener course and the results speak for themselves. The Pauldings first chose a variety of English lavender that was better suited to Vermont than French lavender. Then they began with 250 plants, which they grew from seed, and currently have 1,000, losing very few along the way. The Pauldings maintain organic fields and even weed by hand.
“Other folks who tried lavender in Vermont warned us not to do it,” laughed Peter.
It takes 3 to 5 years for the plants to begin flowering, so the fruits of their labors have just become apparent. The Pauldings opened their farm to the public two weeks ago for their first-ever Lavender Festival, drawing over 800 people to come pick lavender in their fields.
“It was a big success,” said Ty. “In fact, it was such a success that we barely have any buds left in the field.”
The Pauldings hoped that opening their fields for do-it-yourself picking would also advertise the beauty of the site as a venue for weddings. In fact, Ty and Trevor have spent considerable time and effort landscaping and manicuring the property to create natural-but-tamed areas that would be perfect for those looking to have outdoor weddings.
Future plans include turning the indoor riding arena into an events space that could host receptions, creating a man-cave “Groom Room” in the barn, and a bridal suite in the main house’s double formal parlors.
The Pauldings also plan to open a retail space in the barn where they’ll sell their line of lavender-infused products and branded merchandise. Ty is an experienced beekeeper and hopes to maintain colonies on the property to pollinate the lavender and produce lavender-tinged honey.
As if all that weren’t enough, Ty is an avid player of disc golf (aka frisbee golf) and has already set up a scenic 9-basket course on the grounds with plans to expand to 18 baskets over time.
“Right now, we’re open without charge to folks who’d like to come play, but we ask that you make a reservation through the UDisc app,” said Ty. The UDisc app informs afficionados of the sport where they can find local courses.
Ty has helped organize disc golf tournaments at Pittsford Rec that raised over $15,000 for the Pittsford Food Shelf.
The Pauldings have become eager members of the Pittsford community, happy to use their property to complement life in Pittsford.
“We’re open to any idea that would be beneficial to the town,” said Ty.
So, even though the lavender season is just about over for the year, the Pauldings are happy to have folks stop by to discuss holding events at the property or just to tour the grounds. You can find out more and contact them through their website, sunshinevillagelavenderfarmvt.com, or call them at (802) 399-1764.
