Harvest begins at Cornwall’s first lavender farm
Report by Grace Pascoe
The first lavender harvest of the year is now underway on the Lizard Peninsula.
The owners of Roskorwell Farm, Mark and Sam Hall-Digweed, took inspiration from the south of France when they first planted their crop in 2016 above the village of Porthallow.
Mark says: "Sam and I honeymooned in Provence in Luberon and found it a beautiful crop to become involved with. We’ve been growing here now for four years, we utilise the lavender, harvest it for dried products, we’ve also got a still so we distil our own oil from it."
The fragrant crop - which will either be dried or used to make essential oils - benefits from Cornwall's salty sea air and well-drained soil.
Plans to open to the farm to the public were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, but as soon as the government allowed gardens to open up, they welcomed their first visitors.
Sam says: "We didn’t think we were going to open this year because of Covid but we came into the fields one day and we thought no, this is beautiful, people can socially distance here so why not. Everybody comes in here and has joy on their face and just smiles."
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