Lavender By the Bay is owned by Serge Rozenbaum and his wife, Susan, and the farm is family operated. Susan, a retired schoolteacher, lends her artistry to crafting gorgeous lavender sachets. Serge, who grew up in Paris, began New York State’s debut lavender farm by planting lavender specimens that the couple brought back from France. The Rozenbaums began their venture on their Southold property. The enthusiastic response of customers precipitated a relocation and expansion in 2002, and the farm now occupies 17 acres in East Marion. Lavender By the Bay is presently one of the largest lavender farms in the country.
The rows of plants are tended by hand, and the farm is grown organically. More than 60,000 plants are grown to create the spectacular show of 20 different varieties of French and English lavender, both of which are members of the horticultural mint family. English lavender blooms are typically shorter in length and come in several varying purple hues. English lavender blooms from mid through late June, and some varieties reward admirers with a second bloom in early September. French lavender blooms from early to mid July, offering the most stunning display.
Lavender is prized for its soothing floral scent when used for its essential oil extracts or in sachets, pillows, decorative bouquets and wreaths, as well as for its visual appeal in landscape gardens. Lavender is also used as a culinary herb, especially in Provencal dishes, and the oils are used to perfume soaps, candles, lotions and bath products. You can find these products in the farm’s retail shop. During bloom time, a field entry fee grants you access into the lavender field to pick your own bouquet. Live, potted lavender plants as well as dried bouquets are available, and staff will instruct customers on how to care for them. The farm also sells its own lavender honey that is made with nectar that the bees gather from the field’s plants and collected from hives on site. It is the only lavender honey that is produced on Long Island, and it sells out quickly.
Lavender By the Bay offers picturesque strolls and plenty of shutter-snapping opportunities for photography enthusiasts, and the impressionistic vista beckons artists to capture the beauty on their canvases. The farm is pet-friendly, welcoming responsible owners to bring their canine companions along. The blooming field also creates a romantic backdrop for wedding photographs by appointment.
While the French lavender bloom has concluded for this season, the charming retail farm shop remains open for all of your sensory needs and special occasion gifts, and you just might catch the second wave of some of the English blooms that usher in the close of summer. Stock up on delightful sachets to pack away with your summer clothes, fill your pantry with herbs for those Provencal epicurean delights, relax and unwind with a lavender scented bath and keep winter vibrant with decorative bouquets to add a punch of purple to the grey season ahead. Don’t forget to keep tabs on next season’s blooming schedule on the farm’s website.
Lavender By the Bay is located two miles east of Greenport at 7540 Main Road in East Marion, and the farm is open seven days a week from May through October. For more information, including directions and bloom time updates, visit www.lavenderbythebay.com