3 Strands Farm

Like many people, Mary Bails had dreams of leaving her corporate financial position and doing something that involved less stress. Little did she know that a joke with her co-workers, a visit to a lavender farm and the encouragement and help of her husband, Shane, would lead to the beginning of a new adventure. If you haven’t been to their farm in Molalla then let us tell you a bit about them. 3 Strands Farm has approximately 700 plants made up of ‘Hidcote’, ‘Miss Katherine’, ‘Celestial Star’, & ‘Royal Velvet’. Although Mary doesn’t have a favorite at the moment, she is always evaluating and contemplating what it might become. 

On May 31st, 2021 they began planting an American Flag tribute pattern of the lavender in honor of our service men and women. Much of the lavender has been planted in a systematic way to create a group of plants that resemble the U.S. Flag when in full bloom. For the red they grow the Miss Katherine variety, for the white they grow Celestial Star and for the blue they grow Royal Velvet. These are all lavendula angustifolia “English” variety. It has taken a few years and now they have about 700 plants and in June they are in full bloom.  

 This farm truly is a family-owned and operated farm, as Mary and Shane rely on their children and grandchildren to help harvest and maintain the lavender. They expect as the farm grows they may need to enlist additional help, but until then it’s all in the family! One lesson they’ve learned through their years of experience was to plant in the fall to avoid losing any of the young plants due to excessive heat. The other piece of advice they would offer is to make sure and use the longer stakes for your groundcover and drip lines to protect from the high winds that may blow them away. 

Being a small farm, Shane and Mary chose to focus on just a few products which include dried buds and bundles at the moment. 

They open the field for a u-pick day in June and are present at many markets and festivals.  If you can’t make either of those or just missed them, you can always find their product on their website or through Facebook.