In the Heart of the "Lavender Capital of North America"

 My first job outside of my parent's oyster farm was at Jardin du Soleil Lavender. I mainly worked in the store; talking to tourists while making and selling lavender products. During Sequim's annual city-wide Lavender Festival, I taught lavender-wand making classes. The classes took place under a canopy outside and had no specific start/end times or class sizes, meaning that I spent the day with one other employee working with fluctuating crowds of people of all ages in various degrees of frustration as they learned how to make a lavender wand at their own pace. It was an incredibly hectic atmosphere, but I loved every minute of it which made keeping a smile in my face easy.

 In the summer of 2008, I attempted to find a job in my hometown, Port Townsend, rather than Sequim to conserve gas. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone that was hiring and by the time I had exhausted the job-search in Port Townsend my previous employer at Jardin du Soleil had already hired a summer staff. However, I was able to find a job at Purple Haze Lavender--another lavender farm in Sequim. My job at Purple Haze was more manual-labor themed than my job at Jardin du Soleil Lavender. I spent most of my time at Purple Haze harvesting lavender. Due to the weather restrictions on harvesting lavender (if the morning is too foggy, the lavender buds get weighted down with moisture and the harvesting time must be pushed back) I had to accommodate a widely fluctuating time schedule. During the Lavender Festival, I spent most of my time working in the ice cream shed and at the Lavender U-Pick table. As is usual with anything related to the Lavender Festival, both tasks required working with large crowds of tourists in a cheery manner.

For more information about:

Jardin du Soleil Lavender: www.jardindusoleil.com...

Purple Haze Lavender: www.purplehazelavender.com

The Annual Sequim Lavender Festival: www.sequimlavenderfarmersassociation.org...

Photo Credit For This Page: Jardin du Soleil Lavender