Connecting newcomers to the community, one link at a time
Oakwood Mall study focused on growth strategies
June 23, 2025
STOCKHOLM – It all started with a bike ride through Stockholm.
Kim Kirmeir said that is truly how the idea behind Lavender Bluff Farm blossomed.
“We went for a bike ride, saw the place and wanted it, but I didn’t know how to maintain it – it’s a lot of land,” she said. “So, we were looking for ideas for what to do.”
Running a home care company at the time, Kirmeir said she often used essential oils when working with seniors with dementia for prompting – including lavender oil.
Describing herself as quite ignorant at the time, she said, “I told myself, I am going to grow my own lavender.”
“I found that it’s way easier to buy lavender essential oil than it is to make it, because it takes a ton of work,” she laughed.
However, still keen on the idea of owning a lavender farm, Kirmeir said she and her husband, Randy, purchased the property in 2019 and got to work on revitalizing the farm and establishing lavender and hemp fields.
Lavender Bluff Farm (W11976 State Highway 35) – a property originally built by Sweden immigrant Jacob Peterson in 1862 – opened for its first season in 2023.
“We started off with hemp as well – we thought we’d try the whole CBD plan,” she said. “Our first crop was like Christmas trees. I’m still using the crude we have from that first year to make our CBD products.”
The hemp plants were accompanied by lavender and, not long after, bees.
“My whole idea was that I wanted to make CBD lavender honey,” she said.
Though that is still the plan – eventually – Kirmeir said all aspects of that process haven’t quite yet lined up.
“When we’ve had a good lavender year, we haven’t had a good bee year,” she said. “When we’ve had a good lavender and bee year, we haven’t had a good hemp year. I’m hoping this is the magic year because my little baby hemp plants are looking good, and the bees are still alive – however, it has been a horrible lavender year, so who knows?”
Lots to offer
Though her initial idea of CBD lavender honey hasn’t yet materialized, Kirmeir said that hasn’t stopped her from branching out and offering all sorts of lavender and hemp products.
The on-site store, she said, offers a variety of sustainably sourced home and body products – many that are made right at the farm.
“We distill the lavender at our place in a copper distiller,” she said.
Lavender hydrosol, Kirmeir said, is a by-product of the steam distillation process used to extract lavender essential oil – which is the result of steam passing through lavender, in turn releasing its aromatic oils.
Of the bath and body products available in the farm store, Kirmeir said she makes about 50%.
“I make all of the syrups, salts and sugars, and herbes de Provence,” she said. “I make an extract, too.”
For the store’s pantry items, soaps, goat milk lotions and teas, Kirmeir said she collaborates with local businesses.
“The bartender at the Humble Moon Saloon makes these scrunchies that are filled with lavender,” she said. “Another lady in town makes eye patches that are filled with my lavender. A goat milk farmer makes our (lavender-infused) goat milk soaps and lotions.”
Furthermore, Kirmeir said she has what she calls the Lavender Buck program – which in essence is a trade program – with a handful of other local businesses.
“Venus and Ole’s in Maiden Rock has a lavender drink,” she said. “The Pickle Factory in Pepin makes a drink. Township 23 Distillery in Nelson uses it, and they are actually looking at taking my lavender to make a lavender gin.”
As far as the hemp processing, Kirmeir said she partners with a local company to develop the crude, and then “we work on the tinctures.”
“We added the lavender and blueberry to them to enhance the flavor and smell,” she said. “My lotion is all my hydrosol, my oil and my hemp. I do a muscle cream, lip balm, bath bomb and balm, too.”
Since they are a USDA-licensed hemp grower, Kirmeir said they are able to sell CBD-infused products in the farm store.
A bloomin’ good time
Though she and her husband still work full-time jobs off the farm, Kirmeir said the plan is to get the farm to a point where when they retire, “we can work really hard for six months and play the other six months.”
Part of that plan, she said, includes continuing to expand the farm’s offerings and collaborations – starting with a kombucha bar.
“We have a still on its way right now from Portugal – it’s going to be 10 feet tall – that we are going to put in one of the silo (pavilion) on the bluff,” she said. “Right now, we distill on the patio, but this new distiller will allow us to distill up on the bluff where more people have an opportunity to see it.”
Then, Kirmeir said, they plan to install a bar around the distiller.
“By mid-July or end of July, we’re going to have a kombucha bar up there,” she said.
Kirmeir said a local brewer is making Lavender Bluff Farm two kombuchas: a June – “meaning it’s made with honey instead of sugar” – lavender honey kombucha, and a regular lavender kombucha.
“He’s working on those, and we’re getting a kegerator up there, so we’ll have kombucha on tap,” she said. “I have a lavender lemon ginger ale that will be on tap, too, because not everyone likes kombucha.”
Events
Beyond the U-pick and farm store visits, Kirmeir said Lavender Bluff Farm hosts several private and farm-hosted events.
From yoga classes and crystal meditation sessions to farm tours and flower design workshops, she said the farm hosts a variety of events focused heavily on education.
In terms of private events, though the plan was never to become a large wedding venue, Kirmeir said the farm does play host to a handful of small wedding ceremonies and other special events.
The farm, she said, also partners with a handful of local restaurants and eateries to offer picnic lunch packages.
From made-from-starch sandwiches and salads to cheeseboards and pies, Kirmeir said interested parties can stop at any of the partnering businesses listed on its website (lavenderbluff.com) to pick up a to-go picnic basket of their choice on their way to the farm.
Kirmeir said they open the farm on select Thursdays – during “the golden hour” – for photography sessions.
More details and reservation links are available on the farm’s website.
Looking to the future and what other events the farm might offer, Kirmeir said “we have tons of ideas.”
“We’re kind of our own worst nightmares, because we keep coming up with ideas,” she laughed.
Sowing her own path
Inviting people to the farm – whether for classes, U-pick days or events – Kirmeir said is the aspect of owning and operating a lavender farm she likes the most.
“I really enjoy walking around and telling people about the farm,” she said. “The people that come in – I mean, who is sad at a lavender farm?”
Kirmeir said she also learns a lot from Lavender Bluff Farm’s visitors.
“I learn from the people who come into my shop,” she said. “They’re always asking me to give tours, and many of them are horticulturists and they have degrees. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m a YouTube farmer.’”
Though she laughs at those interactions now, Kirmeir said she’s grateful she followed her own path.
“We never went to a local lavender shop until we started doing it on our own,” she said. “I’m glad we did that, because had we done that, we might have done things differently than we have.”
Kirmeir said they have 19 different varieties of lavender in their field.
“A lot of the ones (others) said weren’t supposed to work (are working for us),” she said.
As she continues to grow the farm – though “we aren’t planting any more lavender, we have enough” – and its offerings, Kirmeir said she hopes to continue to collaborate with other local businesses.
“I love lavender, but I had no idea lavender had such a following,” she said.
Kirmeir said when she and Randy were married, they picked wildflower bouquets – an option she said she would like to explore offering for other brides.
“There are other flower farms around there that I would want to partner with,” she said. “I also want to partner with other event businesses, because Stockholm is a big wedding destination. People need something to do Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when the wedding is only about three hours and they are usually here for the weekend.”
And as she continues to add more classes, Kirmeir said her goal is to make them educational and provide attendees with an overall lavender experience.
Refillable containers
All of Lavender Bluff Farm’s face wash, hand wash, dish soap and multi-surface cleaning products – anything that comes in glass containers – Kirmeir said, are refillable.
“It’s $20 for the first time, and then I’ll refill them for $10,” she said.
Kirmeir said the plan is to do that with the kombucha as well.
“We’re going to have glass growlers, and we’ll make them refillable,” she said.
A slow start
Though the lavender season is off to a later start, Kirmeir said updated information regarding U-pick options will be listed on the farm’s website and Facebook page.
“There was a really hard freeze this year and a lot of people have lost (a lot of plants),” she said. “And, (the season) is really far behind. I could have picked last year at this time – we don’t have a single bud yet. So, it’s about four weeks behind.”
Lavender Bluff Farm’s store – which is located right on the property – is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
