EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — If you love the smell of lavender, it may be worth a short trip to the Metro East.
Tenderloin Farms Lavender is located at 6368 St. James Drive, Edwardsville, Illinois. Sisters Kimberly Stahlhut Hansen and Kris Stahlhut Straub took over the operation after their parents died. The farm has been in the Stahlhut family for generations. Over the years they’ve raised everything from hogs to crops they could sell.
“Our family migrated from Germany, Hagen, in 1853 and settled in Edwardsville. We've got a spot on the other side. That's 1917. Our family has property all over in the county. Our parents died in 2014 and '16. Seems every generation before us has turned the farm and twisted it slightly. Our father added hogs. Our grandfather added dairy and we had hay, potatoes, eggs, cheese, a lot of different things,” said Stahlhut Hansen.
Right now, the farm raises corn and soybeans. It added lavender to operation in 2016.
“But we bring them up here to the U-pick. There is oil all up and down the staff. In fact, when we distill the lavender, we distill it, stem it all. We're not going to get down into this darker wood because that hurts the plants for us,” said Stahlhut Hansen.
Lavender season begins in late May and runs through June. They grow more than a dozen varieties of lavender. The farm offers a U-pick lavender patch that is open to the public.
And if you’re not wanting to pick your own lavender, the farm offers a variety of products, including dried lavender bundles, pillows, candles and floral water. If you’re looking for spa-related gifts there are shower steamers, lotions, bath salts, soaps and scrubs. Dried lavender bundles are very popular with visitors.
“In the Midwest, it is too hot to dry them in the barn. We actually have built a big drying rack in the bottom of my house. We will actually put a fan on them to keep pushing air around them. They'll take about two to three weeks to dry,” said Stahlhut Hansen.
The farm recently hosted an evening exclusively for photographers to use their family farm as a backdrop for models, dancers or for to just make beautiful images of their farm. The farm is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. You can find information about Tenderloin Farms on Instagram and Facebook.
Website: https://www.tfilavender.com/
You can reach out to Kimberly Hansen via email at tenderloinfarms@gmail.com.