Katie Terrell Ramos started Mesa Verde Lavender on a dare.
She was working as a writer and illustrator of children’s books, and was always obsessed with lavender, she said. Then her father-in-law dared her to start a lavender farm and didn’t let it go.
“It kind of became this joke that maybe I could figure out how to farm lavender,” she said. “And I took on the dare, and I followed it, and I said, ‘OK, I’ll take the challenge.’ I’d never planted anything before this, and so my first thing I planted outside was 200 lavender plants.”
That was in 2021. Now, Mesa Verde Lavender, located about 15 minutes away from the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park in Mancos, grows close to 3,000 lavender plants, Ramos said.
The farm grows both culinary and aromatic cultivars of lavender. The culinary lavender is used by a number of ice cream shops, bars, restaurants and coffee shops in the region, including Durango’s Cream Bean Berry, she said.
“That’s kind of our goal: to make sure that your lavender treats taste good and your body products are as potent and as medicinal as possible, Ramos said. She said she wants to teach people how to use different cultivars.
Mesa Verde Lavender specializes in hydrosols (also known as floral waters) and essential oils, which are made in the farm’s copper distillery.
“They’re made in small batches, so we can be checking the pH level,” she said, “so they’re really, really high quality products.”
Ramos said the farm’s lavender tallow balm, made with local, regenerative tallow, is also popular – as are its lavender sachets, teas and honey.
In addition to monthly visits to the Durango Farmers Market, Mesa Verde Lavender products can be found at the Cortez, Dolores and Telluride farmers markets. They are also available at shops in Durango, Dolores, Mancos, Rico, Telluride and Bluff, Utah, and the farm’s website.
ngonzales@durangoherald.com
