Mountainside Lavender Farm

This was a wonderful stop. Peaceful. Cute little shop. Picked a nice sized bouquet of Lavender for a very reasonable price. The owner is super nice and very helpful. I highly recommend stopping here!

Quote of the day: «The bees are drunk and they won’t bother you» — said by a worker at the farm
Spontaneous stop… and I’m SO glad I did! Driving from the backroads of Hillsboro to Newberg I kept seeing these little signs saying «Lavender ahead» and I remembered that it’s lavender festival weekend! I had seen a flyer earlier in the week at coffee shop but I am in the middle of crazy transition and I didn’t want to put another event in my to-​do list. So lo and behold, I find Mountainside Lavender Farm without even trying!
I decided to make a stop b/​c I needed to not stress with all the unknowns right now… and lavender is a great stress-​releasing remedy! Besides, purple is my favorite color!
What a GREAT hour I spent walking the little farm. The parking lady was so helpful and said there was over 25 varieties of lavenders in a lower and upper field along with a small strip of venders in the grassy hill. Just 15 mins in the direct sun and I was too hot but luckily there were venders under canopy tents.
Don’t mind the bees — seriously, they do seem to be drunk on lavender and it’s the BEST place to get over this fear I didn’t know I had. You just gently shake the bush and they are like friendly church people and allow you to come into their section. It was quite amazing to see.
Pros:
— $ 5 for a bunch… basically as much as you can hold and they don’t weight it.
— Seems to be plenty of parking… I did come at 11:30 AM and when I was leaving at 12:30 PM it was getting more busy but there is a huge field
— The festival had a maybe 10 – 15 venders, my size
— It wasn’t overly touristy, which means crowded
— It’s free parking, free to get in and a few free samples
— 2 areas to pay for the flowers — one in the lower building w/​a small gift shop & one in the upper field with the other venders
Cons:
— I think only 1 vender sold 2 types of sandwiches & pastries for lunch and 2 sold drinks and ice-​cream. The cucumber sandwich from Decadent Creations was lovely and oh soo yummy though.
— The entrance/​exit is just after a windy bend in the road where cars go fast, so you have to be careful
— Didn’t wear the right shoes… of course that’s MY fault but still!

I am in love with this place!
Just stopped by during the Lavender Festival today and boy did we have a blast. I’ve only visited Mountainside once before, to use a Groupon (which I highly suggest you do). This place has so many different types of lavender, be prepared to have an OVERLOAD of lavender while still having fun.
The festival was great, a new experience for me! There were multiple vendors here (selling lavender lemonade, wine, jellies/​jams, and other goodies) in addition to live music and of course lavender picking.
These guys run a great farm, and they are some of the kindest people you will ever meet. Plus, when they say you can gather a «bunch» of lavender, they mean a HUGE portion of lavender that your hand can barely fit around. Score!
We visited about three other lavender farms in the area, but there is nothing quite like Mountainside. Highly recommended!

I love lavender, though I usually have more to do with the essential oil than the actual plants. So it was a given that I’d love Mountainside Lavender Farm, too.
I took Pirate Grrl lavender picking today – had to use our Groupon before it expired, even if I’m feeling lazy these days. I was glad that I made the hour trip from our house.
We both enjoyed wandering down rows of lavender amid the gentle buzzing of contented bees and the aroma-​therapeutic scent of the flowers. Pirate grrl thought that cutting lavender was tough work – pirate’s are supposed to be lazy – but to my surprise she ended up clipping a full bouquet and a half and left feeling pleased with herself.
Right before we left, we discovered that they have a second field above the house– even more rows of lavender to ogle, yay! There are quite a few varieties to choose from; a lot were pretty dried out when we went (I think the farm must be toward the end of its lavender season, though the lavender in my yard in Vancouver seems to be at its peak).
People who are deathly afraid of bees might prefer to select pre-​picked bouquets. The forward little nectar suckers would land on my bouquets as I was picking, and I frequently would grasp a stalk of lavender at the same time one of my new buddies decided that this stalk was his. No problem, though – he would politely fly off and leave me to my clipping.
Not only do they have lavender flowers and plants, but a little gift store with all sorts of appropriate items (soap, lotion, eye bags, etc). They thoughtfully provide a water coolor and picnic table, from which you can watch chickens peck around the yard. Be careful not to run one over when you back your car out – we came close!
On our way home we stopped to pick Marion berries at a farm we happened to spy from the car. This seems to be a great area for farm stands and U-​Pick.

Mmmm… my car and home smell soooooo good! I bought a Groupon, 5 bunches for $ 10, and now I’m hooked for life! I loved the extensive variety of Lavender this farm offers, over 20 to choose from.
In addition to the helpful teen boy, the shy Lab-​mix Milo, and the two pygmy goats, there are rows and rows of lovely lavender. And yes, there are bees. The type of bees that are busy doing good things for our world, and who are willing to share their lavender with us.
I cut four bunches to take home and told my friend to cut the fifth for herself (I know, you are thinking that I’m incredibly generous.) I did not keep track of which kind I picked, next time I will take pics of both the lavender and the descriptions. I brought home both tall and short, various shades of purple, pink and white, and all amazingly fragrant.
Beautiful farm, I’d move there in a heartbeat!

I’m surprised no one’s written a review for MLF yet.
Lavender plants, products, and u-​pick. My first life-​changing lavender (life changing as in now I’m hooked) experience was u-​picking lavender here, with hundreds (Could it be thousands?) of bees buzzing busily (and loudly) among the lavender bushes while myself and fellow u-​pickers bending over them with shears. The relaxing scent of a field of lavender on a sunny afternoon and the buzzing of the bees (not so relaxing) made it a surprisingly therapeutic experience.
The farm is next to the owner’s house, and she (Lori) and occasionally her children gave us directions on u-​picking and helped us with our purchases. They were really friendly & lovely.
Personally, I preferred their ‘grosso’ lavender (for drying) for the size and tall stalks… and Betsy’s Blue for the deep color. They have so many varieties (website says 20) of English and French lavender. We bought a 2-​lb bag of sifted/​cleaned dry lavender for only $ 35.