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By Sara Ann Hutto Grant \u201917<\/b>
\nPhotography by Craig Mahaffey \u201998<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><\/p>\n
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With faith and tenacity, Michelle Ducworth \u201900 put her family farm back to work<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>
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The Crest of the Hill. It\u2019s a special square of land on Michelle Ducworth\u2019s fourth-generation, 200-acre family farm. It\u2019s the place where her father would walk after a stressful day as a trauma physician. Where he would admire the acreage in the evening light, his children following behind.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe would go down there and hit his reset button if you will,\u201d Ducworth remembers. \u201cIt was his time with God and country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The family farm looks a little different than it did then. Today, it\u2019s the site of Twin Creeks Lavender Farm, a sea of purple that began as Ducworth\u2019s brainchild and has become her full-blown career.<\/span><\/p>\n Three years ago, on the morning of Twin Creeks Lavender\u2019s first U-Pick \u2014 an event where the community is invited to harvest their own lavender straight from the field \u2014 Ducworth drove her SUV through the Crest of the Hill, going out of her way for a special moment.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt the top of that terrace, you can see all of the pasture \u2014 many, many, many acres,\u201d she says. \u201cThe first day that I opened the field, I went through there just to say hey to Dad and ask him to be with us that weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very emotional day, that day, because I was praying all my hard work would come to fruition.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ducworth wouldn\u2019t be disappointed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div> Lavender?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n I<\/span>n 2015, Ducworth\u2019s father, Lyman Ducworth Jr. \u201970, passed away from cancer, and the farm\u2019s cattle work was picked up by a neighboring farmer friend.<\/span><\/p>\n At the time, Ducworth was working as a Greenville, South Carolina-based surgical device rep, selling in western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. Soon after her dad\u2019s passing, Ducworth realized the farm\u2019s old barn would need cleaning out. The prodigal daughter returned home to Williamston, South Carolina.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou know that old saying: \u2018You can take the girl out of the farm, but you can\u2019t take the farm out of the girl.\u2019 It\u2019s very true,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n Ducworth grew up in the farm\u2019s homestead, which was built in 1892, and she speaks of fond childhood memories shared with her brother, Scott:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy dad was very busy in the ER with a pretty grueling schedule, and mom was running me and my brother all over town, being the mom with the most,\u201d she laughs. \u201cFrom horseback riding to baseball to dance. And, of course, we had our farm chores and our schoolwork to take care of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When Ducworth returned home to clean out the barn, she felt the familiar peace of her family\u2019s land, and she says in that moment, she felt called to become a fourth-generation farmer. An idea began to take root.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe farm has always been a place of peace,\u201d she says. \u201cI want it to be everybody else\u2019s place of peace as well, to just come out and enjoy God\u2019s country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ducworth decided to take part of her family\u2019s farm \u2014 10 acres, to be exact \u2014 and make it her own. After a year of brainstorming and researching, she nixed ideas of rosemary and basil and settled instead on lavender, an herb not indigenous to the red clay of the Upstate.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLavender?\u201d her brother asked, perplexed when she pitched the purple plant. Yes, lavender.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div> Prep Work<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n T<\/span>o get her 10 acres ready for planting, Ducworth first reached out to Clemson Extension, and they helped her test the soil and guided her in adjusting its pH.<\/span><\/p>\n Then, she invited Victor Gonzales of Victor\u2019s Lavender, one of the nation\u2019s top growers from Sequim, Washington, for consultation. Together, they came up with a game plan: amend the soil with bone meal (phosphorous) and pelletized lime; plow the soil and let it rest; mound the rows for proper drainage; order and plant 7,500 plants by hand; and, finally, pinch the initial sprouts for maximum growth in the first year.<\/span><\/p>\n Ducworth and her team, including her mother and brother, planted seven unique lavender varieties in the field: Gros Bleu, Grosso, Provence, Violet Intrigue, Melissa, Royal Velvet and Super Blue.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an incredible amount of work,\u201d Ducworth says. \u201cI planted about 500 plants myself, and my hands were so swollen, I could hardly move them.\u201d<\/p>\n But the results speak for themselves. Ducworth has enjoyed over three years of successful lavender yield, and she\u2019s developed close to a hundred bath, body and home products made from the lavender essential oils they distill on the farm.<\/p>\n \u201cI use every single [product] you see [in our store],\u201d says Ducworth. \u201cI tell everybody \u2014 I make the things I want. Y\u2019all just pay for me to pamper myself.\u201d She laughs, \u201cIt\u2019s really a selfish operation.\u201d<\/p>\n A couple of her favorites are the Shea Yes Sugar Scrub, an exfoliant made with organic shea butter, organic sweet almond oil, fractionated coconut oil, vitamin E, and lavender essential oil, and the Heels Down Foot Moisturizer \u2014 the name inspired from Ducworth\u2019s days as a Saddlebred saddle seat equestrian.<\/p>\n \u201cHeels Down pairs exceptionally well with a glass of pinot noir at the end of the day,\u201d she says with a smile.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div> Sharing the Farm<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n A<\/span>f<\/span>ter years of working the lavender and cultivating an agritourism stop in Anderson County, Ducworth has been able to pursue Twin Creeks full time. She takes pride in extending her family\u2019s legacy and honoring her late father in the process.<\/span><\/p>\n In May 2022, <\/span>Southern Living<\/i><\/span> featured Twin Creeks Lavender Farm in a two-page spread, a story Ducworth has framed on her wall. She counts the feature as a blessing and says some days it\u2019s still surreal to see her face in the lifestyle magazine.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI look up and see it and am like, \u2018That really happened.\u2019 You know?\u201d<\/p>\n But Ducworth doesn\u2019t stop with sharing her story \u2014 she shares her lavender farm with fellow small businesses.<\/p>\n Because every single Twin Creeks Lavender product is handmade, hand poured and hand labeled, Ducworth collaborates with other local farms and businesses to create specialized products that they wouldn\u2019t have the bandwidth to produce on their own. Vdovichenko Bee Farm, for example, has brought their bees out to the field to create a lavender honey that Ducworth says is smooth and sweet.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLavender is very high in sugar content, so that\u2019s why the bees love it,\u201d she explains.<\/span><\/p>\n But more than anything, Ducworth finds joy in seeing the community out in the fields of purple, picking lavender for their baked goods, for their homes \u2014 for fun. It\u2019s why she created the annual U-Pick event, which invites folks to the field to pick their own lavender. U-Pick runs from the end of May to the Fourth of July, and a Pick Pass purchase allows patrons to harvest anytime during that season to enjoy all the lavender varieties Twin Creeks has to offer.<\/span><\/p>\n Ducworth loves to see local chefs picking their culinary lavender in the early season, groups of friends packing picnic lunches for the field, and families traveling for miles just to participate in U-Pick and take some lavender home with them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot to be said for providing a place where everyone can come out and get a breath of fresh lavender,\u201d Ducworth says. \u201cMy mom and brother are really proud.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think my dad would be, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div> Sara Ann Hutto Grant \u201917<\/strong> is the associate editor of Clemson World<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>
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