SEQUIM — Lavender growers and those who love the fragrant purple flower worldwide are expected at the Sequim International Lavender Conference, which begins Friday.
The three-day conference — which includes a “post-conference session” Monday — will feature world-renowned experts in the industry and is drawing international participation, said Scott Nagel, executive director of the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association, event sponsor.
The industry-wide conference based at the Sequim Holiday Inn Express, 1441 E. Washington St., will include workshops as well as hands-on farm demonstrations.
Third conference
It is the third such conference. Two others have been conducted in Sequim during the past decade.
The conference, which costs $325, is scheduled at both the Sequim Holiday Inn Express and at the farms of the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association, combining indoor workshops with “boots on the ground” sessions at some of the Sequim lavender farms.
About 100 have registered for the conference, Nagal said.
Among them are residents of New South Wales, Australia; British Columbia, Canada; Ontario, Canada; Puerto Rico; Arizona; California; Colorado; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Iowa; Idaho; Illinois; Maryland; Michigan; North Carolina; Oregon; Virginia; and Washington state, he added.
An additional seminar Monday — on “Culinary Lavender and the Food Modernization Act” — is open to both conference participants and any others interested, Nagel said.
The seminar will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with lunch included.
Single-day registration is $75. As an add-on to the full conference, it will cost $65.
The daylong seminar is popular in light of growing concerns over food cleanliness and quality, Nagel said.
It’s for anyone interested in commercial food processing, such as cooking with lavender.
“We are developing a program called ‘Sequim Certified’ that will provide scientific grading standards and testing for lavender to be used in food products,” Nagel said.
“Sequim lavender is 97 percent clean, which is about as clean as you can get,” Nagel said.
Farm visits, workshops
On Friday, the conference will begin at 10 a.m., with shuttles leaving the Holiday Inn Express for open farm visits at Jardin du Soleil Lavender, Olympic Lavender Farm, Port Williams Lavender, Purple Haze Lavender Farm, Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm and Washington Lavender.
Workshops are scheduled Saturday and Sunday.
“Whether participants are experienced farmers or just getting started, the Sequim International Lavender Conference will provide everyone with an opportunity to learn about industry best-practices and see how Sequim farmers have utilized their land, balancing the geography of their sites, developing individual identities and compilations of their acquired knowledge and experience,” Nagel said.
Keynote speaker
A key draw for lavender growers from around the world, said Nagel, is conference keynote speaker Tim Upson, co-author of The Genus Lavandula, which Nagel calls the “lavender bible.”
Upson — curator of Cambridge University’s 40-acre Botanic Garden in Cambridge, England — will speak at 6:30 p.m. Friday and at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Nagel also will speak during the conference about lavender festivals and tourism.
Saturday speakers and their topics are Michelle Thibert, owner of Soulscents & Bodywork in Enumclaw, on aromatherapy; Victor Gonzales, owner of Victor’s Lavender in Sequim, on propagating and growing lavender; Ann Harmon, owner of Morning Myst Botanics, on hydrosols; Curtis Beus, who served as the Washington State University Extension director in Clallam County for 15 years, on agritourism; and Kathy Gehrt, author of Discover Cooking with Lavender, on culinary lavender.
Also, David Simpson of the Department of Agriculture on organic certification; Sarah Bader, owner of Lavender at Stonegate in West Lynn, Ore., and author of The Lavender Lover’s Handbook, on selection of plants; Carmen Ragsdale, co-owner of Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm, on developing culinary products; Michael Shirkey, co-owner of Port Williams Lavender, on producing a “lavender experience” for visitors; and Cathy Angel of Angel Farm, Barb Landbeck of Moosedreams Lavender — which closed in January — and Marcella Stachurski, co-owner of Cedarbrook, on taking a business beyond the farm.
Lavender farms
Sunday’s workshops will be at lavender farms: Angel Farm, Port Williams Lavender Farm, Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm, Purple Haze Lavender and Victor’s Lavender.
At 1:45 p.m. Sunday after lunch, Upson will present a workshop, “The Life Cycle of a Lavender Plant.”
The Sequim Lavender Farmers Association and the Sequim Lavender Growers Association each will put on separate festivals during Sequim Lavender Weekend on July 20-22.
For more information and online registration, visit www.internationallavenderconference.com or www.sequimlavenderconference.com.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2390 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
Managing Editor/News Leah Leach contributed to this report.
