Lavender Lovers Rejoice: Down By The River Lavender in Wenatchee Conversation with Beth Hammerberg

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Down by The River Lavender’s Beth Hammerberg Episode Transcript

Beth Hammerberg [00:00:00]:

Well, my husband gave me a limit of 5. Oh, gotcha. That obviously means 8.

Scott Cowan [00:00:23]:

Welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. Here’s your host, Scott Cowan. Alright. Well, welcome back to this episode, the Exploring Washington State podcast. We’re sitting outside today. smoky weather here in Wenatchee at Confluence State Park. my guest is, Beth Hammerberg, and Beth picked a really early times. She so it’s cold out here, folks. I’m I’m suffering for this episode. Just kidding. Anyway, Beth is well, Beth? Just you tell him. What do you do?

Beth Hammerberg [00:00:54]:

I always try to do all the things and Right now, my big project is being a lavender farmer. I planted my farm about 6 years ago, not with the intention of farming. but with the intention of making my property look better and it’s getting which which was has been a struggle. We don’t really have a lot of water. And so everything we had that was lawn died, and it it just had a big dead lawn area. And I planted that with Lavender because it’s drought tolerant. And, somewhere in the middle of that, my husband and I were like, let’s be farmers.

Scott Cowan [00:01:31]:

So Okay. We’re in Wenatchee where there’s big river running. Mhmm. Just over my shoulder. Mhmm. And you say you didn’t have access to water? You live north of town. It’s it’s still in Etihadros. Right? Yeah. Okay. How come you don’t have access to the Columbia for irrigation.

Beth Hammerberg [00:01:54]:

So in order to access that water, you have to possess a water right. Mhmm. And then you also have to have a point of access. And, Wenatchee is not as strict as some other areas, but it’s difficult to get those water rights — k. — from people, and it’s expensive. Okay. So, you know, when we moved on to our property, when we’d only been married 8 months. And at the time, they told us, you know, buy the the most expensive place you can get because you’ll make more money over your lifetime. That was your real estate agent that told you that. Right? yeah. Lots of real estate agents. Well, think about that. How do they get paid? Yeah. Sorry. I’m a real estate agent. You know, we still live there and that place has been wonderful for us. And, yes, we did grow into making more money. But at the time, I mean, we had you know, no furniture. We we were sitting in lawn chairs for, I don’t know, 10 or 12 years. So you had that whole college by, like, the cinder blocks and the plywood for bookshelves? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I still dig that look. But —

Scott Cowan [00:02:56]:

So how much your farm, how much how many well, say acres, if you will, but how how big is the farm?

Beth Hammerberg [00:03:05]:

we have about 3 acres, but less than an acre is planted.

Scott Cowan [00:03:08]:

Okay. So help me out with this because when I think of lavender farming, I I think of the places like over in squim, which is, you know, this the Mecca, it seems like, in this area, over there, and they have acres and acres of of lavender. And that doesn’t really help me process mentally. So an an acre of lavender, what does that produce in a typical year.

Beth Hammerberg [00:03:33]:

That is loaded question. So what it’ll produce depends on the type of lavender you have? Oh. But, if you if you fully plant an acre of lavender at the recommended density, it’s about 25100 plants. And, you you only need 100 plants to be considered a lavender farmer. And even over in squim, there are some some farms that are very small, and some that are very large. It’s just that they’re all condensed in one area.

Scott Cowan [00:04:01]:

So, yeah. So you only need a hundred plants to be considered a lavender farmer. that designation, what does that get you? Do you get, like, a t shirt or something that says I’m allowing her for a a little help in? Or — Street cred, the other lavender farmers, probably? Okay. So So what type of lavender so you plan in when you planted this, do you still have the same type of lavender today that you did when you started, or have you have you changed through the years because of this didn’t do what we thought or, you know?

Beth Hammerberg [00:04:30]:

yes and no. Yes. I still have my first variety. I’m about to rip it out. because, you know, when I when I first planted, we just win for it, and we really like to learn by doing. Okay. And, yes, that means that later, You have to rip some stuff out, but we like we’re we’re DIY people, and we like to just go figure it out and try it instead of talking about it. You know? Okay. So that first variety, I don’t like it after learning about other varieties and growing those. my first variety is hard to harvest. It doesn’t grow consistently. Doesn’t give me very much oil. I don’t really like the way it tastes. So If I only get to grow, like, 8 varieties, I want ones that I really love. So why do you only get to grow 8 varieties? Just for volume? Well, my husband gave me a limit of 5. Oh, gotcha. that obviously means 8. Oh, yes. And so I have some limits. So I have to I’m gonna take that out and put 2 more kinds in that I don’t currently have.

Scott Cowan [00:05:32]:

Alright. How So are you going down to the local, you know, nursery to buy your lavender? How does one I mean, I can go down to Home Depot and buy lavender from what’s the big What’s a big gardening company that — Monrovia. Monrovia. This is are we talking the same sort of plants? Are we talking different here?

Beth Hammerberg [00:05:52]:

Educate me on Lavender. I am going to answer this question carefully because I love Home Depot, but that is not where I buy my plants. I get them from another lavender farmer who is trusted and respected in the industry. k. And he, he he takes cuttings. So he propagates true to the variety. Okay. And so when I when I buy, let’s say I buy my I’m I’m gonna get a kind called Royal Velvet. Okay. I’m gonna go to this farmer that is trusted and respected, and he’s gonna make real velvet cuttings for me. They will all be genetic clones. Mhmm. And they will grow really consistently. So the bouquets will look the same. The oil will smell the same. They’re gonna grow the same. When you’re talking about harvesting 300 plants, because that’s how many of those I’m putting in. I want to harvest one way. Like, using one method and not happen to And you need a consistent product, like, from plant to plant. Right. Right. because so when I distill, I’m gonna put it all in the still at the same time, and I don’t want, you know, one bad plant ruining the batch. so they all need to smell the same. Okay. So that’s where I get my plants. And most large, lavender farmers are gonna go from to a propagator

Scott Cowan [00:07:05]:

not start from seed and not go to a box store. Well, I mean, okay. I can go to a box store and buy some lavender for my yard for decoration. That’s fine. But I’m not trying to harvest it. So it makes perfect sense to me. So walk me through this. You’re gonna tear out some plants this year, and you’re gonna plant replacement plans. Yes. How long before they produce at a level that makes sense commercially?

Beth Hammerberg [00:07:32]:

So Lavender goes from being planted to full production in 4 years. Okay. It’s 4 years for the plants to mature. the 1st year, you don’t harvest the flowers. You just cut the buds off every time they start to grow because it encourages the plant to to put all its energy into the root system. Okay. And when you do that, it will make your lavender live longer. Okay. If it has a strong root system. So 1st year, you don’t harvest anything. 2nd year, you do harvest. 3rd year, you harvest again, and the the quantity you get doubles. Okay. 4th year doubles again, and that’s when you hit full production and full maturity. Alright. So — So after 4 years, you’re at full production.

Scott Cowan [00:08:16]:

how long typically if if, you know, the weather cooperates and all of that will a lavender plant produce for?

Beth Hammerberg [00:08:25]:

So they say in the Lavender Growers curriculum that the lifespan is 10 to 15 years kind of tops. Okay. But I know farmers who’ve had theirs for 30 years. And they’re still still pulling out the commercial money. Okay. Some of it depends on pruning. I was reading somebody’s post yesterday, and they had twenty year old plants that they got a lot of damage with the weird season this year. And, they took their whole fields, and the first, like, 3 rows of plants, they modem to the ground, which typically I don’t re recommend and you can only do it successfully with the English lavender’s, not the French lavender’s, but anyway, they they mowed three rows to the ground. right away and let them grow back for the season. Then they mowed 3 more to the ground at the end of the season to watch to see if they’d grow back from the the crown of the roots. and then they just heavily pruned the last three rows. Right. And now we’re waiting to see which method was the best.

Scott Cowan [00:09:25]:

So If you mow to the ground, is it gonna take another 4 years before you get to wow. Okay.

Beth Hammerberg [00:09:33]:

But, the the those first rows, the plants are already like soccer ball sized and they have a lot of new vibrant green growth, like if they had just planted a cutting. Oh. So this This method is kinda it’s got some potential. Right. Wow. Where if you could just mow down your old plants and they’d grow back like new.

Scott Cowan [00:09:51]:

Right. But you have to do this in a strategic way. You don’t wanna plug on your entire field because for 4 years, you’re producing a lot less than your last season.

Beth Hammerberg [00:10:01]:

Right? I mean — True. Okay. So

Scott Cowan [00:10:04]:

you have 8 varieties? Yes. And you mentioned English and French lavender. Yeah. how many of each are do you just do English? Just do French? I have Probably half and half. So four of each? Yeah. k. Can I turn this into Sunday morning basic math class? 4 and 4. Yeah. Okay.

Beth Hammerberg [00:10:26]:

why did you pick the these 8? Why did you pick them? So I went after I planted the first patch and then started talking to Lavender Farmers and found out it terrible for production.

Scott Cowan [00:10:38]:

Okay.

Beth Hammerberg [00:10:40]:

I started just going and smelling and looking at different kinds of lavender, and I picked the kinds I was gonna grow based on our climate for 1, which is actually excellent for all kinds of lavender. Okay. But Also, I just picked the ones I liked. I didn’t like how they smelled or tasted or looked. I didn’t want them. Okay. So

Scott Cowan [00:11:00]:

We’ll we’ll come back probably to that in a little bit. So I’m just gonna round it up. You said a little less than an acre. We’re just gonna call it an acre for easy easy use. How much labor is involved over a a season with lavender?

Beth Hammerberg [00:11:13]:

The labor comes into the harvest. Mhmm. And it is a lot.

Scott Cowan [00:11:18]:

So how do you how does one harvest Now you have 8 different varieties. Are you harvesting differently here? Do you have to harvest differently for these 8 different types? Mostly. No. Okay.

Beth Hammerberg [00:11:29]:

they they come off at different times, which is nice. So I’ll be able to harvest, well, take this, for example. This might be what my calendar looks like. I have a variety called Buena Vista, and it’s my first one to bloom. And, Ala Harvest, this year, I harvested almost 500 bundles when it was really early in its bloom, and then I dried those and I de butted them. k. I left the rest of it for 2 or 3 more weeks, because when you distill, a lot more of the flowers can be open. Okay. So I left a large portion of it to distill. And in the meantime, I had another variety called Pacific Blue, start to bloom. and I cut a patch of that for bouquets and Reeves, and then I left the rest to to bloom more. Then I went back and distilled my Buena Vista. k. Then I went back and distilled the Pacific blue. And by about that time, my intermediate started to be ready to make bouquets and reads out of and and to dry for bouquets, because there’s fresh and dried bouquets. So you have to time both of them. And then then also about that time, super, which is the the variety I have, a little over a 1000 of that variety. It’s my big oil. k? Okay. And lavender is super big oil. Right? that variety is ready to harvest, and that’s my really big laborious push there. k. I harvest it all with, like, this little hand sicle. It’s probably 16 to 18 inches long with a curved blade. Okay. So you have to graph the plant and cut for, like, every cut.

Scott Cowan [00:13:09]:

k. And is it just you doing the harvesting? I haven’t heard your husband’s name mentioned yet. I’m just hearing a lot of you. Well, there’s there are two reasons why you don’t hear him mention very much. One

Beth Hammerberg [00:13:22]:

I’m the public face, and I try to protect the privacy of my hubby and the kids. Okay. So you just aren’t gonna hear them mentioned much. Okay. Especially by name. but also this year, he hurt his back. Okay. Yeah. I’m sorry. We’re getting old, apparently. Oh, yeah. At least he is. Okay. He’s getting I don’t think I’m gonna claim it. Okay. But, he hurt his back in the middle of harvest. And so to get back to your question, usually, I’m the one doing all the harvests. Alright. and it’s a lot of work. The 1st day, the 1st year I harvested all the super, it took me 10 days, 10 full days from like 4 AM to, 11 PM

Scott Cowan [00:13:59]:

to cut it and distill it. Oh, okay. I was a tired girl. Well, let’s stop. breaks this apart for me. How long did it take you to cut it?

Beth Hammerberg [00:14:08]:

I so I cut and distill fresh. So — k. — so those two things mix together. Right. So one plant might take me I can do about a plant a minute but you’re, like, meaning over. Right. So your back is — Yeah. So you have to stand up and take a break between. So I will harp that year, I harvested into, like, the giant gray school garbage cans and totes and stuff, and I would fill up you know, 2 or 3 of them. Right. Go take one to the still and change it over, then go fill up another couple of them to get ready for the next time I needed to put material in my still. So how many plants did it take to fill up one of these containers? The well, then they were only two years old. So it was in the 6 to 10 plant range. And now that they’re fully producing? the really big plants. Yeah. Like, 2 or 3 of them will fill up a container. Alright. It’s a lot of plant material. A lot of plant. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:15:06]:

we’ll come back to the stilling. Well, I’ll I I I wanna unpack that. So you’re you’re harvesting by hand. You’re doing the bulk of the work. This year, I got to get help because my hubby was injured, and he felt bad. So are your kids interested in this at all? Do they think it’s cool, or do they like, oh, yeah, whatever. No. Are do the kids kind of curious?

Beth Hammerberg [00:15:28]:

my kids are curious. about everything. I am very lucky to have the children I have. Okay. And they do when I ask them to come home, they come help, and they say thank you for letting me help. You know, it’s crazy. Right? Wow. Yeah. I don’t wanna jinx myself for the future because they’re almost teenagers. But, I did start hiring them this year, which you can do. And, Prop my older son probably became my biggest expense this year. That’s how hard he worked. Oh, okay. Yeah. It was amazing. Right. Okay. Well, that’s great to hear. He’s able to contribute, you’re able to get labor. Mhmm. That’s awesome. And it’s gonna help him out because he gets to put that money in the bank. But — Right. in no way, do I think my children were will ever choose to be lavender farmers? Okay. Alright. So there’s that. Alright. So this is just a a means to the intro them at this point. Just extra I used to mow lawns when I was a kid. Yeah. I could have harvested lavender if it was available to me. Okay. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:16:29]:

So you’re spending now this season. Are you done harvesting? It’s it’s now it’s the middle of September. I am done harvesting. Okay. I have about 20 plants,

Beth Hammerberg [00:16:40]:

no more, like, 50 plants left to prune. Okay. Which if I don’t prune them this weekend, I’m going to leave them to prune till the spring. because if you prune too late, it leaves your plants kind of exposed to the frost. Gotcha. And then I’ll get more winter damage. So

Scott Cowan [00:16:58]:

So how long did it take you this year to harvest if if you if you if I put you put you on the spot hours wise?

Beth Hammerberg [00:17:06]:

It took me 8 to 10 full days. 8 to 10 full days. Okay. And I had help this year. Alright. So when you say 10 full days, are you talking the 4 AM to 11 PM? full day again? I slept in till about 6 this year. You’re a slacker? I’m a slacker. I went from, like, 6 to 8 o’clock at night. Okay. Alright. You know, When I harvest, I I mentioned in the beginning, I like to do all the things. Right. And so this all happens for me in between you know, taking the kids on hikes and bike rides or going to teach wreath classes or going to a conference or taking care of the house because my husband’s laid up with a bad back. Mhmm. k. We’re going to help, the other lavender farmer do stuff at their farm. Okay. So it’s like fit in everywhere. Right. So it’s not just

Scott Cowan [00:17:53]:

sun up to sun down for 10 days straight. You do nothing else. You’re This year? No. Okay. So you’re doing other things. Okay. You distill some of the product. You use some of the product in in dried ries or not embroidery. What what other what other ways do you use the product? Does that does that

Beth Hammerberg [00:18:14]:

make Yes. Okay. So so I will take the oil that I distill and I put that into all the other products I manufacture. Right. Like, that cup I brought you today has, basically a hand sanitizer, and it had, like, what else is in there? Oh, their soap. Okay. Make soap and lotion, make a couple different kinds of scrubs. And then well, one thing I’m doing this year, I’m taking the bud and I’m I’m mixing it with rice and, like, stuffing teddy bears. Okay. That’s kind of fun. So pretty much I do all the kinds of things that I think people will enjoy and buy. Alright. So when you

Scott Cowan [00:18:57]:

go back. So when you first started, your first you planted these because it was a drought tolerant way of making the yard look better. Okay. When did it become the idea of well, now what are we gonna do with all this? And while it didn’t become that that idea,

Beth Hammerberg [00:19:15]:

it went, let’s plant these first 300, then we looked at each other and thought, let’s plant more and farm it. It — Okay. Alright. It it wasn’t like, what am I gonna do with it? right away, it was let’s do more because we’re apparently crazy. so we planted, you know, 1200 plants in the front yard. And then The next year, it looked great. We started harvesting. We found out we couldn’t distill it, and then it became

Scott Cowan [00:19:42]:

what can I do with it? Well, why couldn’t you distill it?

Beth Hammerberg [00:19:47]:

At that time, First, we didn’t have a still. Okay. You know? And second, some other farmers had told us that it was terrible, and you couldn’t get any oil out of it, and nobody wanted to buy that oil anyway. And that was from that first plant. The From, yeah, it’s a variety called Munstead, which is a great landscaping plant, but it is kind of a pain production wise. Okay. Alright. So one one kind of bargain we made in this business is that we wouldn’t take out any loans or go into debt. Cowan. And, if I wanted to do more things with it, I had to go make money with it. So then so I didn’t have the still Didn’t have ways to cut bouquets. We didn’t want people out on our property. Okay. because we have little kids. Right. We just aren’t That’s social anyway. So I started to experiment. Like, I spent 6 months in that. I guess it would be the 2nd season. just trying to make other things out of the lavender. That’s the year I started trying to make lavender wreaths. I I dried some of it and debited it by hand. I went and bought a $100 super cheap. Moonshiner still off of Amazon and tried to distill stuff on my kitchen top. And, like, all these things this is how lavender farming is. All of these things happen at one time. Right. It’s like you’re trying to be 10 different professionals at once. So I’m trying all this out. I did develop in that time, my JavaScript. which is a winner. A Java. It’s a coffee sugar scrub. Okay. It’s like a miracle in a jar. Okay. So that came out of that effort.

Scott Cowan [00:21:25]:

And — So did you, like, just about get some C and H sugar and some Folgers and mix it up with lavender? Well, I’m not gonna divulge my coffee type you. It’s a trade secret,

Beth Hammerberg [00:21:34]:

but, no, I didn’t use Folgers. I’ve I thought, well, what what could I what could I take these buds? These straight up buds and do with them. Mhmm. because I’m gonna have a lot of them. Right. And I thought, oh, coffee sugar scrubs sounds nice. Not everybody has that. So I looked up a recipe online, and I made that and then tweaked it and tweaked it and tweaked it probably 10 or 12 times and had all my friends try it. Right. Until I got to the point where I’m like, this is something special. Alright. So I’m gonna I’m gonna

Scott Cowan [00:22:02]:

push you here. k. What without disclosing the type of coffee, Are you are you buying whole beans and then grinding them? Are you buying ground coffee? I buy ground coffee. Okay. And I buy I

Beth Hammerberg [00:22:17]:

Always buy it to the best of my ability to support small businesses here locally. Okay. So you’re buying,

Scott Cowan [00:22:27]:

Ground coffee. Now I’m a coffee guy. I love coffee. So what type of grind is it? Is it a real fine grind? It’s fine. It’s a light garden espresso grind. So it’s real not like not like those big chunks you use like for a French press, but you’re buying a fondly fondly.

Beth Hammerberg [00:22:42]:

fondly and finally. Finally. Yes. finely ground coffee. Yes. Okay. And you’re blending that with with lavender and with sugar. Mhmm. I can tell you the ingredients. It has sugar. It has lemon juice. it has lavender buds that I do kind of like a an extract or a tincture. Right. And then I grind those up so that they’re a little smaller. and then I put in lavender essential oil — k. — and something called hydrosol.

Scott Cowan [00:23:09]:

Alright. Now you’re throwing me, though. I’m thinking of a scrub. I’m thinking it’s dry. So why the lemon juice? So

Beth Hammerberg [00:23:17]:

scrubs can be more wet, or they can be more dry. This one is somewhere in between. It also has coconut oil. So when you take it out, it’s kind of like a paste. Okay. And then you add water. And there you go. the lemon juice my original motivation with the lemon juice is that I heard it was good for your skin. Okay. But it also helps function as, a natural preservative between that and the coconut oil. Okay. Those two things preserve Interesting. Alright. and that that particular product, I actually sent it for product testing — Mhmm. — because it’s slightly wet. and I was worried it would grow something. Oh. And I wanted to make sure that I could sell it like that without adding other preservatives. You start dealing with things like even there’s a preservative called Optifen, which is really popular in these products — Okay. — because it’s really mild. and you can just get it at your like, you can just order it and have it at your house. You know? k. But when you read the label, you still have to wear goggles and gloves and all this kind of stuff, and I didn’t want that in the house around the kids. So I tried sending the scrub out just as it was to get tested, it passed. Okay. It’s it’s like

Scott Cowan [00:24:33]:

synthetic preservative free. It’s just like natural food materials. And so this is sold in, like, a little

Beth Hammerberg [00:24:40]:

cosmetic type jar? I put it in, like, kind of a flat canning jar. They’re really cute. Okay. It looks home homes fun. Okay. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:24:50]:

Alright. Interesting. So it has coffee. Yeah.

Beth Hammerberg [00:24:54]:

should have brought you one of those. I wasn’t thinking that I’m thinking straight on. Alright. So you you you planted the wrong type of lavender for oil.

Scott Cowan [00:25:04]:

you know, so you planted a whole bunch of those. Mhmm. Your new friends in the lavender business said, oh, those are the wrong ones. You said this business is gonna be self funded. We’re not gonna go into debt for it. So Then you bought a little still off of Amazon, which I’m just really thinking that’s funny that we can buy a a still — Yeah. — delivered across state line. I have the same. Alright. So you bought a little still and all that, but how did how did the business grow self fund? I mean, you had to invest. And and I’m not asking for a split. You had to invest some I mean, obviously — Oh, okay. Yeah. So I guess we were our own finance years. But you had a budget. You said we’ll — Yeah. — we’ll put in $5. And we we can’t yeah. And we won’t put in more it to if the we need more, we’re gonna earn it off that 5 bucks $5 Fictional investment. Okay. This whole still thing is really interesting to me. So I’m gonna ask you the still that you have now, Where did you obtain it? And she just raised her eyes and has a smirk on her face. Okay. So I love distilling. Okay. I I think it’s really fascinating and

Beth Hammerberg [00:26:14]:

it’s just fun to do. Okay. And the science nerd in me loves it. Alright. So I start I started out with this moonshanger still, and yes, like you said, the money to to start didn’t come out of nowhere. Right. But I paid for it in cash from my other job. search for purchase. — bootstrapping this is what it is. Alright. And, you know, in that part, it took probably 3 years for the business to start funding itself. Okay. So now I don’t give my business any money — Okay. — which is pretty cool. That’s very cool. — big big accomplishment. Yeah. That’s very cool. Congratulations. Thank you. The still story goes like this. I started out with that moonshainer still. And, most of I I read about distilling lavender oil and other oils, and about moon shining — Mhmm. — to learn how to use it. Right. And after I I made enough, I bumped up to a copper still, which I also bought online, and they also shipped it across seat lines. k. I bumped up to a copper still that it was a cheap model, but

Scott Cowan [00:27:10]:

it was you know, an improvement for me cost me about 300 bucks. Let me stop you. Well, actually, okay. So first off, if the the copper still cost you about 300 How much did the moonshiner still cost you? It was a $100. $100. Okay. I think you said that before. Alright. So how much product could you distill in the moonshiner?

Beth Hammerberg [00:27:27]:

Almost nothing.

Scott Cowan [00:27:29]:

What does that mean?

Beth Hammerberg [00:27:30]:

Like less than a teaspoon of oil. Oh, that really. For a taste worth of effort. And it the — Wow. — like, at the time, like, I was learning at the time, but now looking back, that particular still didn’t function very well for lavender. it ended up the lids the lid was pretty flat, and so plant material would kind of, like, poke up into where the condenser was. and you would get, basically, like, the plant material would contaminate the batch that came out of the condenser. Okay. And they’re like, I did not sell this product because I was still practicing. Mhmm. But the hydrosol the hydrosol itself would get mold floating on top. Oh, okay. And I learned that that’s that’s because I was making more of a tea than actually a hydrosol.

Scott Cowan [00:28:19]:

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So then you bought a $300 copper still. Yes. How much does it produce?

Beth Hammerberg [00:28:28]:

So on that one, the year the 1st year I was playing with that in learning, I probably got about 4 ounces of oil out of it.

Scott Cowan [00:28:38]:

And how long does that process take? That took me days.

Beth Hammerberg [00:28:42]:

And I had so I had it outside. I had to run it on a propane burner. I tried electric heat on it, but, like, it was cumbersome on the stove because you know, when you run water through the that’s probably putting it really lightly because the way those stills are set up, you run water through the condenser where the condenser coil is, and you’re just supposed to constantly flow water through and it dumps out somewhere. Right. Well, that’s a mess in your kitchen. Right? So I tried a hot plate. It didn’t kick out enough BTUs. I got a propane burner, which did work great if it wasn’t a windy day. k. And when it was windy, it, like, scooped all the heat away from it. And So how long? So how long did you have this copper still in use? I think I practiced with that for 2 seasons. Okay. and I really did learn a lot about distilling and how to make that that particular still as efficient as possible. Okay. And the quality of my oil and hydrosol really did get better with the better still. at that point, I had I kinda gave up gave up, took a pause on developing my own products because microbial challenge testing, like I told you with that, that scrub is so expensive. It was almost $500 to get it tested. Oh, wow. Okay. And you know, so that was a big leap in my business to say I’m gonna spend this money to get this tested so I can sell this scrub. I have made my money back on that. So it was a worthwhile investment, but I just didn’t have enough resources to put other products out like that. So what I did was I found a company Also trade secret right there. My company I found a company that I love that their values matches match mine. they were built by the company was built by a single mom, and, they provide bases. k. Like, they’ll mix up a lotion. and I can add my essential oil to it. Okay. Yeah. So while I was practicing with that copper still, all of that happened. And then I was able to sell more products. because I could quickly manufacture them. Right. And then I was able to buy my next still for cash, December of

Scott Cowan [00:30:52]:

2019. Is that the still you’re using today?

Beth Hammerberg [00:30:55]:

That’s one of the stills I’m using today. One of the stills. Okay. So — Drew Barry Moore. Alright. She started a couple of fires. That’s how she got that name. Okay. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:31:09]:

Shouldn’t laugh, but okay. So how much oil does Drew Barrymore produce?

Beth Hammerberg [00:31:15]:

So distilling the Munstead the year that I told you, I spent 10 days straight. That year, I did spend 10 days straight harvesting. Okay. That was the 1st COVID year. Okay. k. We’ll we’ll mark time by that. Right? The month said I had about a 1000 plants. I distilled those. at about a thousand plants of the super. I distilled those. And they were only in their 2nd year, so they weren’t fully formed yet. Right. Munstead gave me about half a court Super gave me 10 courts. Okay. So

Scott Cowan [00:31:49]:

lots of questions here because I know next to nothing about what you’re doing. So a half a court sounds ridiculously small.

Beth Hammerberg [00:32:00]:

Okay. For the amount of effort? Well — Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:32:03]:

But that half a court what did it turn into? I mean, how much so how much of an essential, like, when you’re making product, how much oil you’re this is really concentrated. So it’s not like you’re you’re dumping it all into one batch, but so what is it? What does that produce?

Beth Hammerberg [00:32:26]:

So, typically, the the percentage you put in a product is 1%. Okay. So, I mean, you can make a lot of product at a half a quart of oil. Yes. You could. Yes. But if you start thinking about the value of your time and how many days it took to get that half a quart of oil — Right. — you just don’t make your money back. So the other plant with twenty times that because it was 10 quarts. So it’s 20 times so that’s obviously more

Scott Cowan [00:32:49]:

efficient. Yes. Okay. That seems like a far more substantial amount of Yeah. Okay. And how long does that take to create a a batch with Drew Barrymore.

Beth Hammerberg [00:33:04]:

Well, I so that variety, I distilled 10 days straight. So I got a court a day. Yeah. A court a. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:33:13]:

We started out on your kitchen stove, tried to do a burner, you know, hot plate. We did a propane thing works great except for us, Wendy. Do we have a shack out back now? I mean, I’m kidding. You know, but what’s the What’s the how how does your distilling process work today?

Beth Hammerberg [00:33:33]:

So I just still open air. just outside. Okay. Because I can’t afford my shack yet. Can’t afford the shack yet. And, when I got this still Drewberry Moore, I had researched all around trying to find something I could do electric heat with — Okay. — instead of propane because of the winds. And here in Winati, our electricity is pretty cheap. Yes. It is. Yes. It is. So I found a place in Western Washington called Olympic distillers. So they’re a small business. They’re here locally. I could drive over and pick up my still if I wanted to and see their facility. Right. And I liked all those things. Okay. and they had, this still that you could heat it with an electric element.

Scott Cowan [00:34:16]:

What okay. So you need to see an electric element. What do you mean? because I I’m like, is it like a heating element for a hot hot water tank, or what’s the It’s pretty similar, or if you’ve ever seen,

Beth Hammerberg [00:34:29]:

like, for a horse trough, you can get basically like this metal rod that you grew into the bottom of a horse trough, and it warms it up and keeps it from — Freezing. — freezing in the winter. Right. It looks a lot like that. Okay. So I have this electric element, and I put it my still actually has 2 tanks. It has what’s called an offset boiling tank and then what I call the cook tank. So the offset boiling tank, I fill that up with water, and I get the water heating. And, the steam comes up through a pipe and goes into the bottom of the cook tank where there’s basically there’s, like, 4 inches of space from the bottom to the top of a strainer basically. So the plant material never touches any water. Oh, okay. And the steam rises up through that. And a a huge advantage of that system is that I don’t have to change out the water every batch. Oh, okay. So it saves me time. It saves me a huge amount of time. Okay. like that copper seal that I had, I had to empty it all out. And then I had to reheat the water, put it in the sill, then pack it, then get it boiling. Right. This, I can just shut off my electricity. The offset boiling tank stays hot. Mhmm. I repack my still. And 25 minutes later, I can be cooking it again. Okay. Alright. So you have 2 of these now? Yes. And what’s the other one called? The other one’s big Bubba. Big Bubba. Okay. He’s twice the size of Drew Barry Moore. Okay. And probably the largest still I’m gonna tackle. because, if I get anything bigger, it’s gonna get dangerous for me. So how big is big Bubba? 200 liters. So, probably just pass my belly button standing standing next to it. Okay. So and I have to, like, reach into the bottom to pull materials So — Okay. — if I go any bigger than that, I won’t be able to grab the plant material. Right. Right. Okay. And did you buy that? It’s the same just, just over in Washington? It came from the same — Okay. — company, but I bought it used from another passenger friend. Okay. Alright. Yeah. So you’ve got 2 stills.

Scott Cowan [00:36:34]:

1200 and some plants. 100. Yeah. Something like that. k. How many products do you have right now? Approximately. Cowan

Beth Hammerberg [00:36:44]:

to the exact number. 20 to 25. 20 to 25. 20 to 25. And I have started to, what I do what I call curating. from other small businesses. Mhmm. And they they have to be people that are nice nice to work with. If they have a a cause, that’s even better. k. Like, on my website, I have all these cards that were handmade by, a lady who supports work with a traumatic brain injury community. I I I just love her. She’s the real nice lady. Okay. So yeah. Yep. I only I mostly get the ones that are lavender seamed from her. Mhmm. But then there’s one that has little doggies on it, and I sell a dog spray. So I like that. So let’s, yeah, let me interrupt you and let’s talk about dog spray.

Scott Cowan [00:37:34]:

Doggy doggy’s the owner, basically?

Beth Hammerberg [00:37:36]:

Kinda. It so so what that’s made out of? It’s pure hydrosol from my super plant. Mhmm. And hydrosol is a product of distillation. When you distill the plant material, oil comes out and floats to the top, but hydrosol comes out on the bottom layer. Okay. And so you’re you are capturing the steam from all that water you put in there. Mhmm. But it’s not just steam anymore. It has kind of infused all of the water loving parts of the lavender. That’s what hydrosol is. It has kind of a an herbaceous scent but it also has a lot of the components that the oil has, but kind of in a milder form, and it’s good for a law out of things.

Scott Cowan [00:38:18]:

So Drew Barry Moore is producing 10 quarts of oil. How much of the other product is drew drew very more produced. That year

Beth Hammerberg [00:38:28]:

that year, I got 15 five gallon buckets and had to dump too because I ran out of buckets. of the hydrosol. Okay. So that’s, what, 50 75 gallons. Okay. I do my mouth right. I I would close them for the shot. Yeah. So it’s a lot of hydrate. You get a huge amount of hydrosol compared to the oil you get. So what other products do you use hydrosol for? So besides the dog spray, I use hydrosol in the vinegar cleaner. I sell my sweeter hydrosol from the English lavender just as like a pillow spray. Okay. I put it in the java scrub. Like, any any recipe that calls for a water, you can use hydrosil instead. Okay. That gives it a lavender. It doesn’t really change the scent, but it can it it does improve the quality of the product compared to just water. Interesting. Okay. Okay. So,

Scott Cowan [00:39:21]:

So that’s a byproduct of the process that you can use. to stretch out the the use of the plant. Okay. Excellent. What’s your number one selling item right now? And does it go by seasons? Does it change, or does — The number one seller actually

Beth Hammerberg [00:39:39]:

potted plants. Really? And, yeah, because I do, like, 1 week where I sell those, and I saw a huge amount of them. I think I did 200 plants or something this year. And I actually work with another farmer on that because I don’t propagate self yet. So we kinda do this collaboration, and I bring in plants from that farmer and sell as many as I can. Right. And then take the extras back to them. So it’s a nice It works out really well for both of us — Mhmm. — since I don’t have that capacity yet to propagate.

Scott Cowan [00:40:08]:

So plants are your number 1 cell. And when do you sell those? June. k. And what varieties are you typically selling?

Beth Hammerberg [00:40:16]:

It depends on what my farmer friend wants to propagate. Okay. But there’ll be a smattering of, you know, 10 or 12 different things that grow really well here. So you’re not allowed to have you know, 2 to 4 of them because you’re you’re capped at 8. Oh, no. This year. No. Oh, I see what you’re saying. I I did only keep one for myself this year. It’s a variety called Grappin Hall. It’s supposed to grow 60 inches tall. It will be almost as tall as I am. and I was too intrigued to let it go. That’s really cool. Yeah. Right? That sounds cool. It’s gonna be gigantic.

Scott Cowan [00:40:49]:

Yeah. Alright. So But from a from a production standpoint, is it is it is it a economically viable producer, or is it just a really cool plant?

Beth Hammerberg [00:41:00]:

economically viable. When you talk about lavender firming, that’s kinda yeah. You have I’ve had to sell for every sale I’ve ever made. Sure. It’s hard to sell lavender. So it’s as economically viable as any of the other ones. But does it produce, I mean, the the first one that you put in that didn’t produce a lot of oils, does this this — This particular one is Grappen Hall? it does really well with cut flowers. And I guess you can use the buds in tea. People like it in tea. Okay. So

Scott Cowan [00:41:30]:

I haven’t tried it. But from a landscaping standpoint, that sounds really cool. Yeah. Now how big a diameter?

Beth Hammerberg [00:41:36]:

It’s all the way around. 60 inches wide. 60 inches tall.

Scott Cowan [00:41:40]:

That’s crazy. Uh-huh.

Beth Hammerberg [00:41:43]:

I can’t wait to see a full ground. We need that in our place.

Scott Cowan [00:41:46]:

Well, look me up next to you. I I will. That’s, yeah, a job. Okay. Alright. So you started this as kind of a hobby Well, it was a way of getting real mowing the lawn. Turn into a hobby. Now it’s a a side business as you you guys have real quote, quote, real jobs. Yeah. Air quotes around. Yeah. Real jobs. What’s What do you want it to evolve into? Well,

Beth Hammerberg [00:42:22]:

ideally, my business would grow large enough to help me achieve some other goals. Okay. You know, like, one of my goals is to build a shop. Okay. Okay. And part of that would be manufacturing space for the lavender. Right. But part of that, it’s cool to have a shop, and we don’t have one. Right? Right. And if If I grow if my business grows to the size of the shop, well, maybe I need to employ some people. Right. And if I need to employ some people, What kind of person do I wanna employ? Mhmm. Me me? I wanna employ, like, the mom that can’t get daycare, but she’s a really good worker. or other people that just have a hard time fitting jobs into their schedule. Right. You know? And I’m fine with saying, oh, you’re gonna work 2 hours Tuesdays Thursdays. I have that flexibility because my business is so small and I I know there are people out there that need some jobs and that have a some pretty big time constraints. And — Okay. That’s the kind of person I’d like to hire. That’s awesome. And then the other thing that’s part of my vision is, supporting, like, given to charity. Mhmm. But charities that are here in the community, like, we already do a little bit with the fair youth fund. Basically, the the kids that take animals to the fair, paints them for H. D. So I focus on a lot of youth education programs, and the more money I make with this business, the more I can give to those places. And then the last goal for me is more kinda nationwide, and that’s just helping to play a pivotal role in improving the industry itself. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:44:08]:

You said 4 h bio that I well, it wasn’t a bio. It was an article in WSUs. Whatever. magazine it was that I found online, like, Googled you. You grew up on the west side of the state? Yes. I did. And you were into

Beth Hammerberg [00:44:26]:

FFA. I was — Is it right? I did. You did say it right. Yeah. I wasn’t I was into into FFA. I did four h first. And then when I got old enough, I moved into FFA. So what were you

Scott Cowan [00:44:39]:

what were you doing as a kid? I mean, what were you raising?

Beth Hammerberg [00:44:43]:

Oh, as a kid, we raised I had a a trout pond. We had cattle. We had pigs. We had sheep. We had horses.

Scott Cowan [00:44:52]:

we had the typical 30 or so barn cats. So how big of a parcel did you grow up on as a kid? It was about seven and a half acres. Okay. So not huge, but

Beth Hammerberg [00:45:02]:

not suburban. Plenty of room for animals everywhere. Right. Okay. We did not really grow crops. Okay. We had animals. So then you went to college.

Scott Cowan [00:45:11]:

What were you gonna major in in college? I majored in Agriculture Education

Beth Hammerberg [00:45:16]:

and graduated with a teaching degree where I then taught Agriculture. Mhmm. And, coached FFA myself. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:45:26]:

And you met your husband in college? Yes. Where did he grow? grew up down by Wapato. Oh, okay. And so his his family background

Beth Hammerberg [00:45:35]:

was actually really similar to mine. You know, they had some animals He did grow more kind of row crops where he was at. Okay. So

Scott Cowan [00:45:43]:

And then how long have you did you When did you move to the Wenatchee area?

Beth Hammerberg [00:45:49]:

So I moved here in 2002, following a man when I was student teaching. So he got a job here teaching, teaching also — Okay. — in Leavenworth, and I kinda wanted to be close to him. So He moved here. Moved here, and then we haven’t left.

Scott Cowan [00:46:05]:

So, obviously, you find it at least okay here. I like it a lot here. Yeah. We moved over here in 2017, and it’s got away from the traffic of the west side. I I do not miss traffic. I although when Angie gets a little traffic during, the rush hour,

Beth Hammerberg [00:46:22]:

The traffic here feels different than the west side, because we’re not all rude about it. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:46:28]:

Alright. So

Beth Hammerberg [00:46:30]:

So you kids growing up here. What are your kids like to do? Are they are they do you guys on the rest of your property? Do you have animals? Or — Yeah. My kids My kids are in 4 h. Okay. And they just come they’re almost completed with their swine project for the year. between the two of them, they raised 6 pigs. Okay. and they did all the work of taking care of those pigs with our support when needed. But we do that whole, I don’t know. You could call it tough love, but I think technically it’s called gradual release where you show them and teach them a bunch stuff and then back away as they can handle more. Okay. So there were some frustrations and tears on their part, but

Scott Cowan [00:47:12]:

I believe the struggle makes them stronger. So there you go. So what do you think your kids will get into as they as they grow? I mean, Yeah. What what are they are they into are they into the the 4h FFA thing? Are they sports or school or They like all they like all of those things. They like all the things? Yeah. I

Beth Hammerberg [00:47:30]:

you know, they say that teachers raise more teachers I wouldn’t be surprised if my kids go into education, but both my husband and I encourage them to pick something that they’re really gonna like to do and to explore all kinds of careers. Yeah. Not just do what their parents do because they already know about it. Right. Oh, that’s good.

Scott Cowan [00:47:55]:

So business growth looks like a shop employing people that are not fitting into that traditional 40 hour a week or even 20 hour a week scheduled work, but who have some challenges because of, like, we’re watching some or I’m watching some little kids right by on can’t believe this one here behind you.

Beth Hammerberg [00:48:18]:

Oh, way to go, kid. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:48:21]:

No pedals. Just

Beth Hammerberg [00:48:22]:

that’s kinda cool. That’s the cutest thing I’ve seen all that you know, offense.

Scott Cowan [00:48:26]:

That is pretty cute. Well, compared to me, yeah, certainly anything you’re seeing is cute compared to me. and you wanna help the industry. What does that look like to you?

Beth Hammerberg [00:48:38]:

So, right now, I am part of the National Lavender Association, but then also a more local one called Lavender Northwest. Okay. I’m a member of the board, and we are trying to kind of lead the charge in standardizing the industry. Okay. because at this point, it’s not. There’s a there’s a lot of understandings, I guess, about, you know, what size a bundle should be, what’s the moisture content of bud, like, all this different kind of stuff. There’s some understandings And then there’s a lot of farmers that are like, well, I do it this way, and it’s the right way. Right. It would be nice to have one. common range of standards like other agriculture industries have had. And with that comes credibility of Lavender as a viable business.

Scott Cowan [00:49:30]:

Okay.

Beth Hammerberg [00:49:32]:

So right now, there’s like, if you go look at let’s say the USDA grant programs. Mhmm. We’re not listed under specialty crops because it’s like, oh, that’s tourism. It’s not a viable crop. And so moving moving towards making that credibility happen is something I’m pretty interested in, but then also, I, you know, I I have a heart of a teacher, and I really want to figure out how to make my small business work so that I can help other farmers figure it out quicker. Mhmm. So it doesn’t take 6 to 10 years. Right. And they don’t feel disheartened quite as much. k. Because I have felt this disheartened sometimes in this path.

Scott Cowan [00:50:17]:

Not to dismiss you, but I think every small business owner feels disheartened on the path no matter what their product line is, whether the coffee roaster or a podcast host, you know, whether you run into things that — Mhmm. Why? Didn’t see that coming. Yeah. You know, has, like, for example, in in Lavender, we’ve had some So I’ve been here 6, you know, since 2017. So the weather here changed. It’s been weird for 5 years. So how has the weather impacted your crops? Like, for example, last year, It seemed like so we live up the canyon. Yeah. And we received 3 feet of snow in 24 hours, and then it froze and stayed for like, seemingly a decade. this winter sucked, for me, because it was hard to get out of our property. streets Cowan here are perfectly clean, but I couldn’t get. so, anyway, a lot of snow, but then my birthday was in the middle of April. We had a foot of snow the next day. What’s going on? What how is that impacting your crops? This year, everything was 3 weeks late. Okay. But was it did they receive any winter more winter damage? Okay. Actually,

Beth Hammerberg [00:51:31]:

that lavender Once you covered up with the snow, it’s like it it’s living in an igloo. It’s better for it to be covered up with the snow. Oh, interesting. It’s worse if it it it kind of snows, but then kinda gets blown away. It kinda sucks the moisture of the plant if they’re not covered. Right. So it’s better.

Scott Cowan [00:51:50]:

just be covered with snow. So did you build an igloo for well, your plant’s not 60 inches tall yet, but what are you gonna do? How are you gonna cover these things in are you gonna literally build igloos around them? No.

Beth Hammerberg [00:52:00]:

you know, most most years, it’s not cold enough even for the wind to do too much damage on the plants. Oh, good. And where my farm is, it’s kind of a warm pocket anyway. Like, at the kind of the bottom of this ravine almost. Like, the warm air travels down to the river over my property. So Okay. we’ll harvest earlier than lots of places anyway. Alright. But, Yeah. The only time I had some severe winter damage, it got down to negative 12 and stayed that way for a few days. And that was probably in 2017 or so. Okay. But it hasn’t gotten that cold since then.

Scott Cowan [00:52:40]:

So what advice do you have for someone who thinks that they wanna start per producing lavender products. What’s a piece of advice that you wish you would have known when you Products are farming. Let’s do both. Let’s Like the whole shebang? Yeah. The whole shebang. What let’s do product or let’s do farming first. Like, what what’s a something you wish you would have known right away?

Beth Hammerberg [00:53:04]:

well, I wish I would’ve known which variety gave the most soil. Okay. For sure because that’s what I I ended up doing, but I also, like, I don’t spend my time wishing about how my pass could change because This is an interesting path I’ve led, but — Right. — advice I do give to people who are looking into farming. I tell them to take the lavender curriculum. It’s only 25 bucks. It’s from the University of Michigan, I think. and it talks about all the issues of lavender farming and gives gives you a nice For 25 bucks. To your pyramid. Mhmm. Okay. And then I tell them to visit as many farms as they can. Mhmm. And then I tell them to, figure out how much work they wanna do. Like, are you gonna be doing the harvesting? Are you gonna hire? You’re gonna make all your own products. Basically, I encourage them to to, like, think through all the pieces of it before they just kinda jump in. They’ll plan a 1000 plans? Yeah. And That’s how a lot of lavender farmers start. They just like plant them. Mhmm. And then the 1st year well, the 2nd year of the plants and the 1st year of the harvest, they realize it’s a bunch of work. Yeah. And then everyone’s scrambling to find places to sell stuff. Right. So

Scott Cowan [00:54:13]:

Alright. From a product advice. What’s a piece of advice you wish you would have heard, you know, or would have not may wish, but would have benefited you had you heard it. A place I have come to with my products is that,

Beth Hammerberg [00:54:29]:

it’s okay to not make every single thing. Okay. Yeah. I talked to this other lady and the phrase, the quote that it came from her, which makes a lot of sense, is that all ships rise. And

Scott Cowan [00:54:42]:

What she was saying was if I support this other small business and they make soap for me, it’s gonna benefit her, but then it’s gonna benefit me as well. Right. And that’s Oh, that’s great. Still pretty cool. Right. Yeah. Because they can concentrate on soap. You can retail it for them because you have your whatever your retail channels are. Alright. So that’s a good segue. Where can people find more about your products and where where your products sold?

Beth Hammerberg [00:55:05]:

I do have a website. It’s www.downbytheriver Lavender.com. And then I have, 3 low retail locations that I have some products in. I have some at Yield Book Shop. I have some at Salt Creek Apothecary in Wenatchee, and then I have some at Praise Fruit Barn besides my online store. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:55:25]:

do you think the retail locations will expand? Do you have any desire to do that?

Beth Hammerberg [00:55:30]:

I do have a desire to expand my retail locations, but, I’m I do wanna be kinda particular about it. I don’t see being in a place like Safeway that’s too big and — In personal. — impersonal for me. So Okay. Yeah. And then I’m I’m gonna do one market a month for October, November, December. Mhmm. So people can find me at the ponderosa craft fair next month. It’s on 15th. That’d be October. In October. And then they can find me in December at the the golden apple band bazaar at the high school. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:56:06]:

The other the other one’s on the west side in Linden in November. Well, people listen to this all over the Yeah. This this is actually listened to. It was really weird. We were just looking at the stats. Seattle’s the largest audience.

Beth Hammerberg [00:56:17]:

Oh, okay. But number 2,

Scott Cowan [00:56:20]:

is, Walla Walla. And number 3 is some place in New Jersey. I know. Go figure. That’s obscure. I know. So for who those of you listening in New Jersey, send me an email, tell me why. We wanna know. Alright. And you can send me an email because I ship anywhere in the United States for $7. There you go. And we’ll, we’ll put a link in the show notes to your site. So when you’re not doing the thing, what do you like do you and the family like to do for fun and entertainment?

Beth Hammerberg [00:56:46]:

This summer, we’ve been boating quite a bit, which is It’s a huge an accomplishment and reward for us. My husband and I have been saving for about pretty much our entire marriage. Okay. And then when COVID hit, we were ready buy 1 — Mhmm. — cash — Mhmm. — as we’ve been saving, but then you couldn’t go anywhere. Nobody had them, and then all the prices doubled. And just this last spring, a friend of ours was like, well, I have a boat. And so we went and bought that boat, and we’ve had it out on the lake. like, fifteen times this summer. Okay. So we’re just living the dream with that right now. And — What about winter activities? We like to sled in our backyard. Okay. We are planning a trip to go night climbing — Alright. — over at the ocean, which should be really fun. Yeah. And, we like to play Mario Kart. Mario Kart. And and do a bonfire. Not at the same time. What what character do you play? I kind of bounced around between characters because I’m trying to dial in the best combo. Mhmm. And I like to keep the kids guessing. Mhmm. You know, Any Usually, my older son wins, but Okay. Alright. Sometimes I school him. Alright. So other questions we always ask coffee around here. Where’s a great place to get coffee around here? So my favorite is Java Dog. They’ve been my go to for cash. The whole time I’ve had my lavender farm, They remember my name, and it was funny this this summer, people got to come help me harvest. which I really appreciate thanking my friends. And, I they picked me up coffee on the way. And they’re like, hey. Can I have a coffee like this? And they’re like, wait, is this for Beth? Like, they knew from my order that my friends were picking up coffee for me. Alright. So that part 2 of the questions, what’s your go to coffee drink? Right now, I have, so many so many steps in coffee. I have a 20 ounce triple shot hot latte with a tiny bit of salted caramel. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:58:43]:

And that so they that’s best drink. Best best drink. Okay. Now wait a second. You just said your friends got to come and help you harvest. sounds a lot like Tom Sawyer painting the fence. Yeah. Like a privilege. Yeah. It sounds a lot like you convinced him there. So my friends are really, really sweet.

Beth Hammerberg [00:59:01]:

And I’m I’m not gonna cry, but I feel really lucky to have these people in my life, and they know that, I don’t ask for help. Right. And some of these friends have been asking me to come to this Lavender Firm, and they’re like, oh, if you need help, we’ll be there. And this year, I was like, okay. You could come help. Oh, that’s cool. And they did. So That’s awesome. They did get to come help me, but But you — It’s not like this huge privilege where I feel all conceited about it. I I tease you because, like, the the whole time started painting the fencing. I was like, okay. Yeah. Yeah. I got it. Alright. Dig your whole lot of should, and then get back in there. I’ve read Tom Sawyer too.

Scott Cowan [00:59:38]:

So last couple of questions. What didn’t we talk about that we should have?

Beth Hammerberg [00:59:44]:

Okay. One question at a time. What didn’t we talk about that we should have? Well, if if anyone who has, been around me or tried my products is listening. I do wanna say thank you. and I love it when people come back and get more. And I love it when it’s useful. I don’t wanna be some of my prices have kind of a they’re they’re hefty. Some of the prices are hefty because of the nature of the products. And, I want people to feel like they’re getting their value out of that and using it. You know? Okay.

Scott Cowan [01:00:22]:

Alright. Last question. This is an important one. k. Cake or pie. and why?

Beth Hammerberg [01:00:30]:

You know, when people asking these questions, we have to put conditions on it. Yes to both. Cake. Cake, especially if it has a chocolate frosting and a raspberry filling. Okay. pie, if it’s pumpkin with a nice golden crust, not too crispy, and a lot of, whipped cream. or if it’s lemon meringue, I don’t get that one very often. So it depends on the cake. Depends on the pie.

Scott Cowan [01:01:00]:

Alright. people are dodging that question. I got that. I was interviewed against and she runs a podcast and this is that’s what they used the last question. I’m like, I’m stealing that one. Mhmm. because it’s kinda fun. Yeah. Yeah. It is. It’s like it’s been really interesting to watch people, as they work their way through that answer. You know? Yeah. I like them both. Yeah. Most people won’t come out and say that. Yeah. Most people go because it’s cake or pie. and why. So most people are, like, going, I have to pick. So then you watch their faces as they’re like, I wanna say both. You you you’re one of the few that have said Apparently, I’m a rebel. No. It’s okay. Yeah. I go through the exit door at Lowe’s sometimes too. Just I know. Right? My gosh.

Beth Hammerberg [01:01:45]:

I’m like, hey. Am I in trouble for this? And I keep walking. Oh. Yes. It opens. It opens. I know. I’ve that’s funny. That’s how I go into those too.

Scott Cowan [01:01:54]:

Well, thank you for sitting down today and talking to me. Yeah. Thank you. This is, this is interesting. And I continued success, and you’re gonna be in our holiday gift guide this year. Awesome. I I think well, I’m pretty sure of that. I — Yeah. I think so. You’re talk to Kenzie about this. It’s — I did. And that’s when she invited me to be on the podcast. Okay. And thank you for reminding me. I’m working with, I actually just confirmed yesterday. I’m gonna be working with YETI chocolates for specialty

Beth Hammerberg [01:02:20]:

lavender chocolates over the holiday season. Oh, nice.

Scott Cowan [01:02:23]:

So, yeah. Very cool. Where will people be able to find those on your website? On my website and at the market, some attending.

Beth Hammerberg [01:02:30]:

Okay. Awesome. Whatever’s leftover, you know, the chocolate goes fast. Does it? Yeah. And it is a specialty item, so you won’t be able to get it everywhere. Okay. But Awesome. Well, best of luck. Thank you very much.