Pondview Lavender Farm: A budding business

Rachel Sankey

Past Staff

July 22, 2024

CHIPPEWA FALLS – If you happen to find yourself driving on Highway 29 in Chippewa Falls and smell light floral and herbal notes, chances are you are not far from Pondview Lavender Farm.

And, if the smell doesn’t do it, the sea of purple may catch your eye instead.

The farm – located at 3735 Business Highway 29 – had its official opening nearly seven weeks ago, and co-owner Bob Sworski said business has been booming.

“The community support has been great,” he said.

Though the farm has been open for just under two months, Bob said the process of starting the farm dates back nearly five years ago.

Not ready for retirement

Bob said the conversation started a few years back when he and his wife, Stephanie, contemplated semi-retirement.

Though they weren’t quite ready for full retirement – Bob said they were ready for a change.

“My wife was a physician at Mayo Clinic for 28 years… and (she had) 50- to 55-hour weeks,” he said. “I’m an architect, so I did a lot of traveling… when I was on the road, it could easily be 50- to 60-hour weeks.” 

Stephanie, he said, dropped down to part-time, and he started to teach at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in the construction management department – a job that leaves his summers open.

That, combined with Stephanie’s love of gardening and Bob’s experience of growing up in farming communities, led the Sworski family to start Pondview. 

“My wife is 57, and I’m 58, so we’re too young yet to dip into any retirement accounts,” he said. “This was a good thing to do – we like being outside, and this is a lot less stressful (than our full-time jobs were).”

Though deciding to start a lavender farm was an easy choice, Bob said starting the farm itself took a bit more time and work. 

One of the first steps, he said, was seeing if lavender would even grow on their property.

“Because we live mostly in the woods, we were not getting full sun,” he said. 

Luckily, Bob said he knew the farmers adjacent to their property, and they were open to selling their land to the family.

“Their machines are so large now they can’t get into all these nooks and crannies with the large farming equipment,” he said. “It was an easy decision for them… They were open to selling us the property on both sides of Highway 29, and because they’re farmers, they were excited to see that the land was still going to (be farmed) and developed that way – not (converted) into another convenience store.”

Bob said they have owned the land now for about a year but rented it for about four years before that.

“We closed on the land once the banks got involved because up until that time, we were paying out of pocket – so we had a significant investment,” he said. “We paid some down on the land – some earnest money – to hold it (and to show) them that we were serious (about buying).”

In total, Bob said Pondview spans 11 acres, with four-and-a-half of those acres being lavender – or about 10,000 plants.

Thankfully, he said they already had most of the farming equipment needed for the fields as well, “so we didn’t have much in the way of equipment investment.”

“We bought a lavender harvester from Italy that we imported last year, and then there are some smaller pieces of equipment like distilling baths (we needed to get),” he said. 

Lavender, Bob said, is also relatively low maintenance after the first year, which served as another incentive to start the farm. 

“Keeping the weeds down and then watering the lavender twice a week is about the most critical piece,” he said. 

The Sworski family said they have visited other lavender farms in their travels, which Bob said helped them when starting Pondview. 

The lavender cycle

One of the first – and most important – steps to growing lavender, Bob said, is making sure you have the right soil.

“The variety we’re growing – and the only variety that will grow in this climate – is an English lavender,” he said. “There are about 10 varieties of (English lavender). We’re growing two of them here, and I have a few more we’re going to try to cultivate for next year. I think we’ll have six total (English lavender varieties).”

Since English lavender is food grade, Bob said it can be used in meals and teas.

From when the lavender is first planted, he said it takes about three years for the plants to mature enough to be picked and used commercially.

Climate hardiness, he said, is also another factor to consider when growing the flowering plant.

“Here, you’re only going to get one growth, if you will, or one harvest,” he said. 

If the plant starts coming up a second time within the year, Bob said it can lead to an early bloom – which happened at Pondview this year.

“This year, it was three weeks early, and (full bloom) is not supposed to happen until the end of July,” he said. 

Bob said pruning is key to full and developed lavender plants coming back the next year.

“If there’s any growth happening between now and next spring – in theory – before it becomes winter, you have to go through and prune them,” he said. “Either run the harvester over them again to trim the tops, or you have to hand prune with hedge trimmers.”

Pondview will be open through the end of Labor Day – but the height of the season only lasts for a few weeks – which Bob said is typically from late June through the second week of July.

Managing the farm and the plants, Bob said, is a full-family endeavor – with his and Stephanie’s four children helping in different facets. 

“The two middle kids were particularly interested in doing this and being involved,” he said. “And the youngest one, she’s here seven hours a day pouring lemonade. She runs the snack bar piece (of the farm).”

Much to do, much to buy

At Pondview, Bob said there is something for everyone – from the farm’s U-Pick option to events and a retail store with lavender-esque goods.

U-Pick, he said, happens during the 21-day bloom cycle.

Customers can come and hand pick their lavender, weather permitting.

The tools needed to pick the plants, Bob said, are available at Pondview.

What lavender isn’t picked by the time peak season is over is harvested and dried, Bob said – though they do leave some of the rows up for those who want the lavender flower, not the bud.

“We have people who are as equally interested in the flower – which comes out of the buds when they bloom,” he said. “They don’t necessarily want the buds to dry and then use to bake with.”

People are also welcome to come to spend time between the rows of lavender, Bob said, and many have already taken advantage of the opportunity.

Bob said Pondview also offers various activities and classes.

Sunset yoga, he said, is one example – which currently runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays until Aug. 6 and is guided by local instructor Rachelle Jack.

“If it rains, then we move the class inside, but we still have full windows so people can look out at the lavender,” he said. “We also have a covered porch, so that’s an option, too.”

Mocktail classes are also available to those who want to learn how to make various mocktail recipes using lavender.

And, for the tea lovers, Bob said Pondview offers classes on tea blending.

“I (also) do watercolor painting,” he said. “At some point, we’re going to add that to the website.”

He said various retail items (lavender-inspired, of course), are available for purchase inside Pondview’s shop as well, such as candles, bath bombs, lotions and creams, essential oil rollers and simple syrup.

In addition to selling lavender products from area makers, Bob said Pondview has also partnered with area businesses to support one another.

“Chippewa Distillery buys our lavender to soak in their gin,” he said. 

Riverbend Winery also buys buds from Pondview to make syrup for a lavender Collins they offer, Bob said. 

“That’s been a neat thing, because I designed that building for the original owners, so I’ve been involved with (Riverbend Winery) on the periphery here since it came to fruition,” he said. 

Nostalgic Bean in Altoona, Bob said, also purchases buds to make lavender baked goods.

Capturing hearts of the community

The response from the community – even before officially opening – Bob said, has been overwhelming.

“One lady left last weekend, and she was almost crying – she said this is the best thing that’s happened in the Chippewa Valley for at least the last 10 years,” he said. “The room in the sales area was full, and everybody was almost crying by the time she was done talking. It was heartwarming.”

Bob said Pondview is the only lavender farm in the area – the next closest one being in Baraboo. 

Another response the farm received, he said, came from a neighbor who helps out on the land, whose wife passed away from Parkinson’s disease last fall.

“Last July, when the bloom was coming on… she would make him put her in the car, and they would park the car up on the top of the ramp (at exit 72 on Highway 29),” he said.

Bob said he always wondered why they wouldn’t come down to the fields, going so much as to wave them over – but said they never came.

“He told me afterward, after she passed, the reason they sat up there all the time was so she could see the purple better than down here on the ground, and all she wanted to do was see the purple,” he said. “You never know how something is going to affect somebody.” 

Many of Stephanie’s former patients have also come down to the farm to visit, which Bob said has been “really cool.”

“We get a lot more hugs than we ever used to get, I can tell you that,” he laughed. 

Bob said area farmers have also taken an interest in the lavender farm – but more so the farm equipment used.

When they bring their wives, who want to go check out the retail store or pick lavender bundles, Bob said he typically catches the farmers “dragging their feet.”

“Then he sees the lavender harvester hooked up to my John Deere tractor – it’s a different piece of machinery than anybody (else) has around here,” he said. “They’ll come wandering over… and they thought it was the coolest thing ever. At that point, they didn’t care how long their wives were in the store.”

Bob said with a lavender farm being slightly off the normal farming seen in West Central Wisconsin, many neighboring farmers are “getting a kick out of this whole thing.”

“They might have been in dairy farming for years, but they like to see development stay in the farming niche,” he said. 

Bob said they’ve even had people come and volunteer to weed.

“Their thought is, ‘if we’re going to weed, we might as well weed in lavender when it smells good,’” he said. “And then we trade them lavender for the time they spend on the field. It’s been an interesting deal.”

Future plans

Though Pondview has been officially open for just under two months, Bob said he and his family already have several plans in the making for the future. 

Some of the plans, he said, came from community interest – such as starting an annual lavender festival next year. 

“(We’ll start the festival) before the bloom and then throughout the bloom,” he said. “And then we’ll have food trucks and some morning coffee items.”

Bob said they also plan to open an hour earlier next year – 10 a.m. – because some people prefer to be out in the fields when it is a bit cooler. 

Adding his garden-scale model railroad around the landscaping of the maintenance building, Bob said, is also in the works.

“It’s been in boxes in storage for 10 years or so,” he said. “We’re going to punch some holes in our maintenance building, and that’s going to run around… That’ll be another thing for kids to look at.”

There is also a chance Pondview will be open past Labor Day in the future, which Bob said started with Stephanie and their two daughters buying an espresso machine – and pumpkins.

“The neighbor across the way raises pumpkins and has been doing a roadside thing, and that hasn’t worked out,” he said. “My wife is already in conversations with his wife, who helps us here at the store… and they’ve concocted this idea that maybe we’ll have these pumpkins here in the fall as well.”

That means Pondview would stay open until Thanksgiving, he said. 

“And then people can get their pumpkins, try a lavender latte and maybe some apple cider,” he said. 

To learn more about Pondview Lavender Farm, visit pondviewlavenderfarm.com.