SEQUIM — The big public party’s over, but you’ll hear no sighs of relief among the lavender.
Three weeks after the Lavender Festival funneled 25,000 people into and out of Sequim’s herb farms, the growers are back in their fields.
These so-called “retired” couples, teenagers and their families are farm laborers well into August, until harvest time is done.
It’s a period as intense and aromatic as the crop itself.
Lavender must be cut at full bloom to capture the essence at its height, said Carmen Ragsdale, co-owner of the Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm on U.S. Highway 101 east of Sequim.
She and her husband Steve run a 10-acre farm, workshop and store — and this time of year spend about 10 hours a day in the fields.
Already the Ragsdales and six other workers have picked enough lavender to fill three 20-by-40-foot sheds, Carmen said on Friday.
When the lavender is dry, she’ll begin turning it into the medicinal, culinary and decorative products sold in the store and on the farm’s Web site, www.SunshineLavender.com.
