Posted on Jul 28, 2023
This Kansas City, Kansas, family farms lavender with the help of addiction survivors
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The Steinegers are part of a wave of nontraditional farmers in Kansas and Missouri who taking chances on niche crops — motivated by spirituality, tourism and simply giving back to their communities.
The sun was taking a break on a recent morning in July, as Joe and Jenny Steineger and their son, Ben, worked the lavender field.
Picking the best lavender stems from their 1,600 plants on a steep hill in Kansas City, Kansas, is a labor intensive job, full of stooping and bee encounters. Afterwards, there are long sessions stripping extra leaves from the stems, made a little more difficult on this morning by the rain they got the night before.
The sun was taking a break on a recent morning in July, as Joe and Jenny Steineger and their son, Ben, worked the lavender field.
Picking the best lavender stems from their 1,600 plants on a steep hill in Kansas City, Kansas, is a labor intensive job, full of stooping and bee encounters. Afterwards, there are long sessions stripping extra leaves from the stems, made a little more difficult on this morning by the rain they got the night before.
This Kansas City, Kansas, family farms lavender with the help of addiction survivors
Posted from kcur.org
Kansas City
Farming
Agriculture
Posted 10 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel wish them success...
..."Lavender seems to be an emerging trend. The fragrant perennial herb most often associated with the south of France has generated a lot of interest among older growers in the Midwest who don’t mind waiting three to five years for a respectable harvest, says Mike Neustrom, past president of the United States Lavender Growers Association.
Neustrom, who lives near Salina in Bennington, Kansas, had one of the first lavender farms in the state in 2002. He estimates there are now around 30 farms in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Iowa.
There are all kinds of reasons for the interest in specialty farming — for a rice farmer in Pomona, Kansas, it’s a connection to his spirituality. For the Steinegers, it’s a desire to give something back to their community. But it’s difficult work. Many farmers are also trying to keep farming with limited land and money to invest."...
..."Lavender seems to be an emerging trend. The fragrant perennial herb most often associated with the south of France has generated a lot of interest among older growers in the Midwest who don’t mind waiting three to five years for a respectable harvest, says Mike Neustrom, past president of the United States Lavender Growers Association.
Neustrom, who lives near Salina in Bennington, Kansas, had one of the first lavender farms in the state in 2002. He estimates there are now around 30 farms in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Iowa.
There are all kinds of reasons for the interest in specialty farming — for a rice farmer in Pomona, Kansas, it’s a connection to his spirituality. For the Steinegers, it’s a desire to give something back to their community. But it’s difficult work. Many farmers are also trying to keep farming with limited land and money to invest."...
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