By Chris Aldridge

Kentucky Ag News

When Philip Santiago’s wife of 53 years, Sue, died five years ago, he decided to start a lavender farm in her honor.

“I told my son, ‘You sell your house. I’ll sell mine. We’ll buy a lavender farm and name it Mom-Mom Farm.’”

‘Mom-Mom’ is an endearing term for grandmother in Maryland, where the Santiagos lived. Philip bought the 10-acre farm near Lexington in 2021, and Mom-Mom’s Lavender opened its doors late the following year.

“I think Sue would be very happy with it,” said Philip, who believes she played a supernatural role in finding the perfect tract for growing lavender, which she loved. “I had a heck of a time finding a farm. Then, I turned my computer on one morning, and this property just popped up.

“Lavender needs good-draining soil, and where I planted the lavender is 1 (best) on a scale of 10. It couldn’t be better! So I think something was definitely guiding everything because things came together just absolutely perfect.”

Philip, a former management consultant, called lavender farming “an extreme learning experience.”

“Lavender is harder to sell than you think,” he explained. “Florists hate lavender. The minute you put fresh cut lavender in water, it molds. So, florists don’t want any part of it. I didn’t know that. That severely cut down one way I thought we could sell the crop.”

Philip investigated making lavender essential oil, but found it takes 80 pounds of lavender to make 1 ounce of oil. “Not economical for a small farm,” he noted.

Mom-Mom’s sells dried cut lavender, but demand is limited.

“Dried lavender will look the same five years from now as it does today; it just won’t smell as strong,” Philip said. “With most agricultural products, customers come back (often) and buy more, but with lavender, it doesn’t work that way. 

“All the avenues for selling lavender are limited. But it’s still pretty; it’s still an attraction. People still like to go out in the field and cut lavender.”

Philip told WEKU-FM that lavender has many uses and an ancient history.

“You go back 2,000-3000 years, it was being used by the Egyptians,” he reportedly said. “It was being used by every single ancient civilization. At that time, people understood the properties of lavender.”

The name “lavender” comes from the Latin word “lavare,” which means to wash.

“Lavender was used as a main ingredient in washing because it smells good and it’s antibacterial, so it really works well,” Philip said. “It also has properties of calming, of relaxing. It’s great for sleep. It’s great for burns. (It’s) absolutely phenomenal.”

Three-quarters of Mom-Mom’s sales derive from a variety of lotions, oils, and handmade soy candles and soaps that line the shelves in the farm store. The remaining quarter of sales come from cut lavender and wreaths from its field of 1,400 perennial lavender plants in 12 varieties.

Mom-Mom’s farm and store is located at 1061 S. Cleveland Road near Athens in southern Fayette County. A second store was recently added in nearby Richmond at 2187 Lexington Road.

The business is a family affair. Philip uses his business experience to keep the books and serve as treasurer. His daughter-in-law, Patty Santiago, is president. Her husband and Philip’s son, Phil, is vice president of farm operations along with his full-time career at a Lexington used car dealership. Phil keeps the farm equipment running in his part-time role.

Mom-Mom’s logo includes the phrase “Be kind to all,” which Philip said was one of Sue’s core beliefs.

“She thought the most important thing we could do is be kind, teach kindness to children,” he added. “If you can get that concept across, then you’re gonna have nice, good people.”