About · Tarhill Farm, Kinross
Nobody grows lavender commercially in Scotland.
Except us, on one steep field, since 2015.
Lavender loves a dry Mediterranean hillside.
Kinross gives it around 900 mm of rain a year, a wet winter, and a short summer.
It grows here anyway.
Partly because the field is steep, south-facing and fast-draining.
And partly because we've spent a decade finding out which varieties will put up with it.
This page is the long version of how that happened.
The short version: we planted a handful of plants on the family farm. Luckily(!), most of them lived.
In 2017, we distilled our first oil. We opened the gate to the public the following summer.
A timeline of our progress here at the farm.
A handful of plants on the small, steep south-facing slope.
Ideal drainage. Not ideal for planting.
We planted about 10,000 lavender plants and hoped for the best.
A very steep learning curve.
Drainage issues, winter losses, testing varieties and dealing with the practicalities of growing lavender this farm north.
The first distillation took place with a homemade still.
Oil!
And it was excellent!
The "Beast from the East" blizzard arrived in February 2018 and caused severe losses to parts of the field.
We started testing more and more varieties. Both for their hardiness and their oil quality.
By 2022 we had doubled the size of the original farm.
The period also saw the growth of day tourists to the farm.
We started to manufacture perfume using our lavender essential oils.
The abundance of aromatic herbs in the herb garden inspired more complex perfumes.
Another expansion in May 2025.
Again planting a range of different colours and scents.
We have some incredibly exciting plans for the next few years.
We can't wait to welcome you all back to the farm in Summer 2027.
A small family business (literally): the two of us, the family farm, and seasonal help in the summer. No head office, no marketing department. If you email, one of us answers.
Indoor things
Outdoor things
Our tried and tested approach.
Steep, south-facing, free-draining.
Lavender dies from wet feet long before it dies from cold, so the slope matters more than the latitude.
A range of lavender and lavandin varieties. Lavandin gives the yield; the true lavenders give the finer oil. Some of our varieties are listed below.
Steam distillation on site, on the same day as the cut. Each variety is distilled separately, and then blended according to its end use.
We don't chase yield. The still only ever gets what the field can properly give at the quality we're happy with, and that oil goes to Middleshade first. Seven unisex perfumes, each named for a Scottish place or a line of verse.
We are not Provençal theme park!
Not big. One farm, one family, a few fields - a visit is a couple of hours, not a day out with a train ride.
Not open long. Around six weeks a summer, because that's how long the flowers last. Outside that, the shop is online.
No café. Bring a picnic; there are lots of benches and a view!
Not flat. It's a working hillside. Some parts of the field are uneven.
