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Lavender farm gets Centerville grad back on track
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By Jordan Pridemore,
Staff Writer
2:47 PM Thursday, June 25, 2009
“I just got into my car on a beautiful fall day and headed west,” said Cheryl Olshove. That afternoon in 2005, she departed from Columbus with no specific destination in mind, finding peace in the beauty of the scenery and landscape.
After battling her own health ailments and losing her older brother, Olshove found herself doing a lot of thinking, soul-searching and reevaluating.
“I’ve always loved this quadrant of Ohio,” said the Centerville High School grad.
“So I just got off the interstate and started looking for a small country real-estate company, which I came across in New Paris.”
Even after her first conversation with the Realtor, Olshove didn’t know exactly what she was looking for. Three short months later, along with her husband, whom she calls her biggest supporter and unpaid laborer, Olshove bought what was soon to become Freckle Bear Farm.
Along with the down payment, Olshove invested her heart and soul into the mini-farm, though she still was unsure of what to do with it.
“I’ve always had a love of old things,” she said after repeating her mantra “Reinvent, Reuse, Recycle.” She imagined turning the beautiful old barn into a house for retirement.
“A month or so after buying it, I was just standing in the driveway when it hit me,” she said.
Flashing back to receiving packages from her Nana, who now is 94 years old, Olshove can remember the bits of lavender tucked into the parcels, the fragrance permeating throughout. She recalled how she’s always loved lavender for its calming beauty and alluring aroma.
“Lavender represented everything I wanted my life to turn into,” said Olshove, “So I decided, why not? I’d grown it on a small scale, so why shouldn’t I be able to grow it on a large scale?”
Despite Ohio’s semi-wet climate and lavender’s tendency to die if it gets “wet feet,” Olshove decided to give it a try.
Three years later, after learning by trial and error which varieties of lavender work in this climate, how it needs to be planted and how to keep away weeds, there were about 400 plants growing at the Urbana farm.
With her freckled face and her grandchildren who lovingly call her “Bear,” Freckle Bear Lavender Farm came to embody the “labor of love” Olshove needed in her life.
“The next step was selling dried lavender at farmers’ markets,” said Olshove, which quickly evolved into a lucrative entrepreneurship.
“I was getting older and I realized that I was so careful about what I put into my body, but I also needed to be more careful about what I put on my body.”
That’s when she started making her first product: soap. She took a few bars along with her to the farmers’ market as an afterthought. Now, with an expanded product line and online store, she can barely keep up with the demand.
Her product line, Bear Naked Goods, includes all-natural olive oil soaps, aromatherapy, lotion bars, body mist and herb blends. She makes all the products herself from all natural materials and with lavender she grows. Her products are available at shop.frecklebear.com.
“It all just continues to grow as I learn more about essential oils, natural products and herbs,” she said. With her emphatic drive to create a quality product, her business is thriving and she’s quickly outgrowing her basement workshop.
“I love being busy and loving life, but it is hard work. Everyone is looking for instant gratification, but when what you do is really a labor of love, you can’t help but be happy,” she said.
Despite the torturous amount of work, time and effort it requires, Olshove loves the farm. She calls it her “little piece of heaven.”
She remembers once when she woke up in the middle of the night to a beautiful moon on the farm.
“It was just too beautiful to go back to bed, so I watched until the sun came up,” she said.
“And I knew if I wasn’t me, I’d be jealous of me right now. That’s what’s so great about being somewhere you love, it builds your soul up to where it needs to be.”
When she was lost, Olshove set out on a journey, and it’s that journey she credits for being able to reclaim life and appreciate every single day.
It’s her success, happiness and the continuation of her learning process that she wants to share. For the first time ever, on June 27, the lavender farm will be open to the public with vendors, music and products from Olshove’s farm.
“I’m nervous about the festival, but very excited,” she said.
“Not everything is complete, but I want people to be part of the journey.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2422 or jpridemore@DaytonDailyNews.com.
How to go
What: Lavender Festival
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 27
Where: Freckle Bear Farm, 6322 Nine Mile Road, Urbana
Cost: Admission is free, but the cost to park on the property is $2
More info: frecklebear.com
Directions: Take I-75 North to exit 82 toward Urbana. Then follow Ohio 36 until you reach Urbana and then take a left at Heck Hill Road, a right at Snapp Road, a left at Ohio 29 and finally a right at Nine Mile Road.
What you’ll find at the Lavender Festival
Lavender is extremely well known for its healing properties, glorious color and enchanting perfume; but come to the Lavender Festival prepared to experience lavender with senses you haven’t considered before. Ever tried lavender-infused lemonade or honey before?
Massages
Teresa L. Kinney, L.M.T., along with three other licensed massage therapists will be offering (clothed) chair and table massages by the lavender fields for a dollar a minute.
Jewelry
Gemelli Contemporary Crafts will be selling jewelry, photo frames, magnets and hair clips by Amanda Buchanan of Athens. She uses a fused class technique to create funky, modern, wearable art.
Trinkets From the Heart by Janet Kenny will also be available. She uses a variety of Bali, Thai and sterling silver beads along with gemstones to create unique designs and customized jewelry.
Spinning wool
Fern’s Fiber Studio will be on site spinning sheep’s wool. The fiber artist uses the natural wool fibers to create dyed knit items.
Art
Lisa Schorr, watercolor artist, will be selling paintings, prints, cards and silk scarves while demonstrating her painting techniques.
Lynn Wheeler’s functional stoneware pottery will also be available.
Food
Crazy Oats will be offering natural granola, Honey Run Farm will be providing lavender and lemon infused honey.
Baked goods will be on sale from Rachelle Marie’s Baking Company, Cupcake Yum. Yum and the Amish Community. Kettle corn will be furnished by Ron Hord and Speckled Hen Farm will be selling their free-range chicken brauts featuring Freckle Bear Farm’s herbs de Provence blend.
Bare Naked Goods
Freckle Bear Farm’s own line will be available for purchase at the festival, as well. Lavender tea and honey as well as all natural soaps, lotions, body mists, herbs and lavender will be for sale.
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pssst to the reporter ... It's St. Paris, not New Paris.
4:24 AM, 6/27/2009