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Mad Lavender Farm smudge sticks are made from homegrown Sage and Lavender, wild-foraged Mugwort, Sweet Annie and Rosebuds. The combination of the scents and properties of these herbs and flowers create a lovely and powerful smoke with therapeutic value.

Sage, aka salvia, is latin for healing. We grow four different varieties on the farm and I love to use combinations of sage in our smudge. Sage smoke is antibacterial and antimicrobial, so the smoke actually cleanses the air of pathogens. Burning sage also produces negative ions, which can act as an antidepressant and energy booster. Our bodies accumulate, over time, a redundancy of damaged positive ions and the negative ions produced by burning sage help to clear them away.

Lavender is a bit sweeter than sage and they balance each other well. Lavender smoke is ultra calming and relaxing. It’s a visual treat, too – the purple buds look so pretty with the sage.

Mugwort and Sweet Annie grow wild on our farm. Mugwort is used to enhance lucid dreaming, visions and protection. Healers also burn mugwort to ease superficial irritation.

The benefits of Sweet Annie aka Artemisia Annua are still being studied, particularly in relation to cancer cells, but it is most commonly used to treat Malaria. Sweet Annie’s anti-parasitic qualities are desirable for smudging, as well. The scent is sweet and fresh.

Rose helps to open your heart chakra up to love and compassion. Rose is said by some to attract fairies.

I heard a wonderful story this summer from a young woman visiting the farm about her experience with smudging. She had been in a bad relationship and it was ended but she was having a difficult time moving on. She was in a rut and she didn’t know the way out. She scheduled a massage, which was a great first step. Her massage therapist strongly advised that she take a purifying epsom salt bath and that she smudge every room in her house. She said that after she had completed smudging, she felt that a dark cloud had palpably lifted and her energy had shifted. After that, she got a great new job. And she met someone new.

Does it really work like that? I think the gifts of the natural world are here to partner with us and play with us and support us in growing to our full potential. I like that there is scientific study to affirm my experience but I trust my intuition and my experience to be my guide.

Our Open Air Farm Shop is closed for the season but you  can still order online at the Tiny Shop and schedule a drive through pick-up at the farm.

Pick up hours are every week,  Wednesday through Sunday (except holidays).

It’s that time of year and our beautiful, healthy lavender plants are ready to beautify your yard. Plant now and you’ll have the sweet scent of lavender and magnificent purple blooms in your garden or pots from late may through the summer months.

Lavender is easy to grow. Just plop it in well drained soil in a sunny spot and you’re good to go.

Our lavender plants are often used in perennial borders, rock gardens, as well as in herb gardens and scent gardens. Lavender’s intermediate height makes it just about right for the middle row in a decorative border comprised of shorter annual flowers in the front and taller shrubs or trees in the back. Lavender also works well when massed, and is sometimes used as a low hedge. This aromatic plant attracts butterflies and even repels deer (as well as cats!)

Lavender is sure to make you smile this summer!

Green Power Energy has recently installed a 15.64 kW ground mounted solar array at Mad Lavender Farm in Milford, NJ (Alexandria Township).  The ground mounted solar array will produce 21,000 kWhrs of clean energy annually.

This is will save the Lavender Farm over $3,000 in annual electric costs and allow them to collect upwards of $3,000 per year in SRECS (Solar Renewable Energy Certificates).  Although the cost savings are tremendous, the real motivation for installing this ground mounted solar array is the farm’s sustainability mission.

Ground Mounted Solar and Mad Lavender’s Sustainability Mission

When speaking with Don Dalen, who runs Mad Lavender Farm along with his partner Adrienne Crombie, he emphasized the real reason for installing solar panels, “It fits our model.  We always wanted to go solar and our vision has been to create not only a sustainable financial system but also a sustainable farming system.”