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Barns Full of Lavender: Harvest Stories and Lessons from Victor

The lavender harvest is in full swing, and Victor’s drying barns are overflowing with fragrant bundles. In this episode, host Steve Shively sits down with Victor Gonzalez to clear up one important rumor: Victor is not leaving Sequim—he is expanding.

Victor shares plans for a new Midwest distribution center and educational partnership with White Barn & Blooms in Hamilton, Ohio. Then the conversation returns to the harvest in Sequim: nearly 10,000 Grosso bundles, along with Royal Velvet and Melissa, filling the barns with color and fragrance. Victor explains why variety selection, harvest timing, drying conditions, airflow, and intended use all matter.
The episode closes with the hard-earned lessons behind Victor’s expertise—including the lavender plants and bundles he lost while learning—and why, after decades in the industry, he is still eager to experiment, answer growers’ questions, and keep learning.

In this episode

  • Why Victor is expanding to Ohio while remaining rooted in Sequim
  • White Barn & Blooms and the new Midwest distribution center for
  •  Victor’s Lavender plants
  • The first Hamilton, OH lavender festival and plans for future growth
  • Over 10,000 Grosso bundles in the Sequim drying barns
  • Grosso, Royal Velvet, and Melissa lavender varities too
  • How harvest timing changes for bundles, buds, culinary use, and distillation
  • Drying, airflow, moisture, light, and long-term bundle care
  • Retail and wholesale lavender ordering
  • The failures that helped Victor become a trusted lavender expert
  • Why Victor believes growers never stop learning

Chapters

00:00 — Music introduction
00:08 — What’s Up, Victor?
06:00 — Barns Bursting with Bundles and Bundles of Lavender
14:37 — Always Learning: Victor Is the Lavender Expert You Can Trust
18:28 — Outro

Visit and shop

Victor’s Lavender, Sequim, Washington: https://victorslavender.com/
White Barn & Blooms, Hamilton, Ohio: https://www.whitebarnandblooms.com/
Shop dried lavender, bundles, and loose buds: https://victorslavender.com/product-tag/dried-loose/
Wholesale order form supplied for this episode: https://victorslavender.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Wholesale-Plant-only-Order-Form-2025-Fillable-Master.pdf

Credits

Host: Steve Shively
Guest: Victor Gonzalez
Presented by Victor’s Lavender
Recorded July 28, 2026

Produced by: S3 Solutions
Photography supplied by Victor’s Lavender
Original music signature and episode production prepared for Victor’s Lavender