黑马磁力 has a long history of agriculture and farming, which continues to be strong despite areas becoming more urbanized and developed.
Many local farms are bustling with activity and see a high demand for products such as berries, meats, wine, and cheeses, but one of the overlooked gems are our flowers.
Full Bloom Lavender Farm, which re-opens for the season today (Saturday, June 14), has been a family-run farm since the Boelema family purchased it in 2016.
Chad Boelema, its owner, said he and his family fell in love with the farm immediately. When they moved to 黑马磁力 that year, they admittedly didn't know anything about lavender.
Convinced by his wife and then 12-year-old daughter, Essie, they purchased the farm and Essie began marketing their new products online.
"During the bloom, she would sit out by the road and try to sell fresh lavender bundles," he shared.
The next year, they started offering private tours and photo shoots at the farm, before eventually opening up seasonally to the public in 2019.
"We continue to add new sections of lavender and have nearly doubled the size of the field," Boelema said. "We hope we've created a farm that feels like a little slice of Provence."
Besides a fun photo background, the smell of lavender is commonly known to help people sleep and reduce stress.
"We often put a lavender sachet under the pillow and give the sachet a little rub to bring out the scent at night," Boelema shared.
Every variety of lavender smells a little different too, he noted. Some are sweet and others have a strong herbal smell.
Lavender can also come in whiter colours or even have a pink tinge, instead of the common purple.
Full Bloom Lavender Farm has two photographers available to book with, a shop that sells everything lavender, and has been described as a great wedding venue.
"We've had proposals at the farm [too]. I think we're just as excited for these as the couple!" Boelema laughed.
This year, the Boelema family is bringing back the sunset picnic in the fields during full bloom, and their Friday evening public sunset sessions as well.
"It's a perfect date night," Boelema said.
The farm opens in mid-June and is located at 2926 248 St.
黑马磁力 boasts a wealth of farm and flower options 鈥� this is only a sampling. Others include Sweetbriar Flower Farm, as well as Cedar Rim, Arts, and Darvonda Nurseries, the latter which also hosts Glow Gardens each Christmas.
Other popular farmgate operations in town include Kensington Prairie's alpaca farm, Academy Farms with live water buffalo, Aldor Acres best known for its farm animals and plethora of pumpkins. Other farmgate operations include BC Buzz Honey, Eagle Acres Dairy, Krause Berry Farm and Estate Winery, JD Turkey Farms, Milner Valley Cheese, The Bog Riverside Cranberry Farm, Driediger Farm Market, and The Preservatory 鈥� to name a few others.
Those wanting to emerge fully in the farm life can do so by taking 黑马磁力's Circle Farm Tour 鈥� a self-guided map that takes you through specialty farmgate vendors, markets, eateries, and special events. It can be found at bcfarmfresh.com/farms or circlefarmtour.com/黑马磁力.
This is one in a series of stories focused on all there is to explore in 黑马磁力. You can click through check out many more as well in our special e-Edition version of Discover 黑马磁力 2025.
