Claudinne Miller said one of the biggest hurdles she and her husband Jeff have faced since owning Dixon Family Farms the last couple years has been a lack of vacation days.
Claudinne said the couple has “not had a day off in five years,” and that streak will continue when the couple hosts the third annual Lavender Days Festival June 14-15 at the Mechanicsville farm.
“He said, ‘I want to have a festival and I want to call it lavender days,’” Claudinne said, to which Jeff added that he was “trying to figure out how to make money on a small farm and lavender is [unique]. People pay for the experience.” The festival’s star attraction is its 2.5 acres of lavender, which comprises between 4,000 and 5,000 plants.
The 58-year-old Claudinne worked as a contractor for the intelligence community for 25 years, and since 2021 has worked remotely doing medical intelligence for the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Jeff, 56, was a combat engineer in the U.S. Marine Corps for 23 years and saw several deployments, including to Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia before retiring in 2013. He also spent a decade with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Neither were farmers, but when Jeff’s aunt put the Dixon farm — which was established in 1881 and has a rich history — up for sale a few years back, the couple perused the idea.
“We had no idea how to do any of this,” Claudinne said, “but we didn’t want to lose it [from family].”
Then they had to figure out what to farm and received assistance as to what would thrive in the sandy soil and the nearby river.
The couple had flown to the south of France to see lavender and it looked like the perfect crop.
“It seemed to fit the profile for what’s allowed and would be good for the soil and what would thrive in the conditions,” Claudinne said of the perennial, which she uses to sell fresh, dried and made into soaps. “Lavender loves [the conditions], so it’s really working out.”