The sound of semitractor-trailers is commonplace at the Orrville Industrial Park, but further along Collins Boulevard, nestled between manufacturing plants and railroad tracks, lies something unexpected.
Welcome to Lavender Trails.
Former high school environmental science teacher Jim Duxbury stands at the edge of his four-and-a-half acre farm, staring out at the sea of fresh lavender ripe for the picking.
"You're looking out over over 2,000 lavender plants," he said.
Orrville's Lavender Trails farm is considered a hidden gem by owners Jim and Amy Duxbury, given its ambiguous location.
Visitors Katherine Mzik and her daughter Emmie said the farm caught them by surprise.
"You get into Orrville and then … you see like the industrial park entrance you're like a what?" Katherine Mzik said. "You drive back and it's definitely industrial and then when you get to the very end of the street there's this lovely field, and if you turn your back to the industrial it just looks beautiful."
The pair is visiting the farm for their second time. Emmie Mzik is back to check out the goods at the farm stand, like the lavender scented linen spray and lip balm. Katherine said the grosso variety of lavender brought her back to the farm.
"I loved it so much from last year," Mzik said. "I didn't know before I came here that there were different varieties, so that was something I learned last year and now we are cultivating it at home."
But this is only one of several kinds of lavender grown here. The four-and-a-half-acre site is home to purple, pink and white varieties of English and French Lavender.
"The tall plant over here, the big flaily one, that's French — it's flamboyant — and that's gonna be more your oils and your essentials," Duxbury said. "The smaller, more compact ones, we have some more in the middle, those are your English. English are going to be more dense. ... They're well known in regards to teas and culinary."
Lavender Trails is more than just a farm, co-founder Amy Duxbury said.
"This was not just a beautiful piece of land that we made more beautiful with lavender," she said. "This was an unusable piece of of land that we make usable with lavender, and I think that strikes a chord with a lot of people."
Jim Duxbury, who at one point in his career was an environmental consultant, said soil sampling done when they began leasing the land and working the farm in 2018 qualified it as an industrial brownfield.
The Duxbury's thought the farm would be an eco-friendly way to stay busy after they retired as teachers.
"We knew we wanted it to be something that was an environmental stewardship focus," Amy Duxbury said. "We just didn't really have a full grasp on what that exactly was, and so … it just sort of presented itself.
Concrete I-beams, rebar and asphalt were moved to the back of property by the previous owner which made room for planting, Jim Duxbury said. The concrete that remained under the soil might be questionable for most plants, but here, his lavender thrives.
"It’s a Mediterranean plant, so it wants full sun, no water, and alkalized soils," he said. "So, with the limestone in here, that actually is perfect. It actually produces the right chemistry."
But the couple's educational background is never too far away. Jim, who taught environmental science in high school, said he’s working to better identify pollinators that frequent the lavender plants and the flourishing pollinator garden nearby.
"You’re gonna see the myriad of bees out here, I just had three of the preying mantis, we've got butterflies and moths and hummingbird moths here, we have two different species," he said. "It makes people smile."
Signage dots the field with facts about the history of the site, its environmental benefits, insight on pollinators and more. but for those looking for a more interactive learning experience, Jim and Amy Duxbury offer guided, hands-on tours.
"We talk a lot about obviously being a flower farm in the back of an industrial park is an anomaly, and so that is the question that most people have," Amy Duxbury said. "We talk about with the lavender plants, their roots getting down in the ground and processing the soil and basically cleaning the soil as all plants do."
The season at Lavender Trails ended Sunday. Jim and Amy Duxbury will begin harvesting and drying the remaining lavender over the next few days which can be used as air freshener or turned into lavender-infused products.
Jim Duxbury said new and returning visitors alike can expect fragrant lavender back in bloom next June.
