Lavender ranch: Aromatic herb thrives near Quincy

QUINCY — Quincy farmer Joseph Downs first started planting lavender at his properties at the Upper Crescent Bar near Quincy and in East Wenatchee in 2015. He now grows more than 20,000 plants on 20 acres and operates a variety of lavender businesses. “We have the farm. It’s called Lavender Ranch, and we have over 20,000 plants and 110 different varieties,” Downs said. “One of the reasons why we have so many varieties is that they all bloom at different times, generally. So, depending on our harvest time – it depends on whether we’re harvesting for culinary or were harvesting fresh flowers or dried flowers or harvesting for oil – we harvest them at different times.” Downs said the business provides various men’s and women’s lavender products produced for the Lavender Boutique, as well as his more recent culinary lavender products made from 15 different varieties of the plant.