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Friday, Apr 23, 2027 at 8:00 AM to Sunday, Apr 25, 2027 at 5:00 PM EDT
Wytheville Meeting Center, 333 Community Boulevard, Wytheville, VA, 24382, United States
Wytheville Meeting Center, 333 Community Boulevard, Wytheville, VA, 24382, United States.
Learn about lavender, how to grow it, how to use it, and so much more. There will be a marketing track dedicated to teaching growers the ins and outs of business and marketing and how to get your farm/product out to customers. There will be a growing track all about lavender and it's needs. It will also have alternative plants to extend your growing season and income. There will be a third track that will cover a little bit of everything. The science behind products and lavender and much more.
There will also be in person demonstrations going on throughout the day to highlight different products and businesses.
There will be hands on classes at Beagle Ridge Herb Farm on Friday 4/23/27.
The classes and in person demonstrations will be at the Wytheville Meeting Center on Saturday and Sunday 4/24-4/25/27.
Ellen opened Beagle Ridge in 2001 and has been specializing in Lavender for over 20 years. She is a recognized speaker at lavender and herb events up and down the East Coast. She has a passion for lavender and for teaching others.
Rachel Crihfield is the owner of Lavender Blessings, a lavender farm located on John Crihfield Farms in southeast Ohio. She is a full-time registered nurse, wife to a busy produce farmer, and homeschooling mom of two. Passionate about faith, family. farming, and wellness. Rachel enjoys sharing how her experiences in healthcare and agriculture have shaped her perspective on resilience, purpose, and the many benefits of lavender.
A practicing attorney since 1989, mainly in the areas of Criminal and Family law. After representing Derek in divorce proceedings from his 2nd wife in 1994 and subsequently marrying him in 2002, Derek began multiple ventures, one was Essential Depot in 2009. As Essential Depot grew, Kim's assistance was needed. In approximately 2012 the legal areas of practice changed to meet the demands of Essential Depot (running, including travel to source/verify product), Kim had to cease representing clients in trials and hearings due to her inability to regularly attend court hearings and trials. Being fired many times by Derek and Kim having quit Essential Depot just as many times (understood by those who know us); Derek finally determined he had no choice but to rehire Kim to run operations (or be subject to the daily bombardment of shopping deliveries). Those responsibilities cascaded Kim into an entirely new area of legal knowledge for Essential Depot and it's industry which she willingly shares with customers.
Rosa Lee Jude is the Director of Tourism for the Town of Wytheville
Cody Coleman is a dedicated team member at Essential Depot, a leading supplier of high-quality ingredients and equipment for soap making, cosmetics, and natural skincare products. With over 8 years of experience at the company, Cody brings plenty of knowledge in crafting a wide variety of handmade products, from cold-process soaps and balms to lotions and bath items, helping enthusiasts and businesses create premium, natural formulations.
Ellen opened Beagle Ridge in 2001 and has been specializing in Lavender for over 20 years. She is a recognized speaker at lavender and herb events up and down the East Coast, and is a Charter member of the USLGA serving on several committees over the years.
Beagle Ridge is a thriving Herb and Lavender Farm and agritourism destination in Wytheville VA. Her passion for teaching other growers has created a thriving workshop series known as Lavender Academy. The academy teaches novice and expert growers how to grow Lavender and grow their lavender business. Since beginning the Lavender Academy in 2019, students from 32 states have come to take these weekend long workshops. Ellen said, “when we began, we never imagined this.” Ellen and Gregg encourage new growers to start small and to know what you like and want to do, before you get in over your head.
Essential Depot
Beagle Ridge Herb Farm
Using a new ingredient to the market, liquid tallow, you can create a whole new product line. Hand soap, body wash, shampoo all begin with a liquid base and then you let the magic happen. Be the first in your area to use liquid tallow and capture a whole segment of your customer base who use tallow products. This class will break down the mystery behind how to make a pumpable soap to add to your shelves.
Team Member
Wreath Making may seem to be a daunting task but this class will demonstrate different ways to create a wreath and learn how to hold a class and teach them yourself. All materials will be included and you will take home a finished wreath.
Owner
Your customer will love a salt scrub added to your product line. Learn how to treat your skin with a rich, rejuvenating scrub. Infused with essential oils and herbs, it gently buffs away dirt and dryness while nourishing skin with lush, natural emollients. Simple techniques and ingredients can turn a simple product into a revenue generator.
Learn how basic Broomcorn and Lavender can be turned into functional, yet gorgeous Whisk broom. Our instructor is a broom maker who will be demonstrating on Saturday in addition to this session. These techniques can be used for any size broom, so come add this to your new skill set.
Laurel Ridge Studios
Have you wanted to add Tallow body butter to your product line? Learn how basic ingredients can become a product your customers will return for on repeat. Why let the tallow craze pass you by ? With this hands on session you will take home a finished product as well as recipes to create your own custom body butter for your farm.
Professor
Hampden-Sydney College
Lavender season is brief, so why not extend your harvest—and your income—with complementary crops? Discover herbs that thrive in the same growing conditions as lavender, offer a longer harvest season, and can be used both fresh and dried. Learn how easy-to-grow culinary herbs can expand your product line into seasonings, herb salts, simple syrups, infused sugars, teas, and a wide variety of value-added products. Whether you’re looking to diversify your farm, increase sales, or simply make the most of your growing space, this workshop will provide practical ideas and inspiration. You’ll also take home recipes and tips to help you get started creating your own herb-based products.
This workshop introduces small business owners and entrepreneurs to the fundamentals of effective design in Canva. Participants will learn basic visual design principles, how to identify and customize high-quality templates, and how to create consistent visuals across multiple marketing channels without starting from scratch. The session focuses on practical skills that save time and improve clarity, helping participants leave with a better eye for design and a simple system they can immediately use in their business.
CEO
Letterpress Communications
Speaker
VDACS
This session covers:
Executive Director
Wytheville Convention & Meeting Center
Bring your laptop, your brand assets, and your ideas, then put what you learned into action. This interactive working session gives participants dedicated time to create or refine marketing materials in Canva with guidance from the instructor. Whether you're designing social media graphics, flyers, presentations, or other promotional materials, you'll receive real-time feedback, answers to your questions, and practical tips to help you work more efficiently. Leave with polished designs and the confidence to continue creating on your own.
Comparing and contrasting the various lavender components as broken down by a GCMS, how different lavenders have different properties for different uses. Science of Essential Oils as a topic. Using a GCMS to identify the components that make up the oils and talk about why different oils are used for different products due to their make up. Discuss the quality of oils but deal with why it is important to use the correct oils for your products.
Stay ahead of the ever-changing social media landscape with this interactive presentation. We’ll dive into the latest updates on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, breaking down how algorithm changes impact engagement. Learn best practices to maximize your time and energy, ensuring your social media strategy is both efficient and effective.
Join Rachel Crihfield of Lavender Blessings as she shares the journey of building a diversified lavender farm. Learn about lavender propagation, distilling, farmers markets, U-pick events, and creating unique attractions like a lavender labyrinth wedding field. Gain practical ideas and inspiration for growing both lavender and a successful farm business.
Lavender Blessings
My Garden Blooms
Certified Pour
Join us for a fun evening of cocktails and mocktails class, dinner and more
This hands-on workshop introduces small business owners and entrepreneurs to the fundamentals of creating high-quality photo and video content for marketing. Participants will learn practical techniques for composing stronger images, capturing more engaging video, and using lighting, framing, and movement to tell their story. The session also explores simple editing workflows in Canva, including basic photo enhancements, video trimming, text overlays, and branded graphics, making it easy to create polished content for social media, websites, presentations, and more. By the end of the workshop, participants will have the confidence to create compelling visual content using the tools they already have and a repeatable process they can apply across their marketing efforts.
Not all lavender is created equal—and choosing the right cultivars can make the difference between thriving plants and costly disappointment. Explore the key differences among lavender species and cultivars, helping you make informed decisions based on your climate, soil, and farm goals. You’ll learn how lavender cultivars differ in cold hardiness, growth habit, bloom timing, fragrance, and end use. We’ll discuss which cultivars are best suited for fresh and dried bundles, essential oil production, culinary use, landscaping, and value-added products. The class also covers regional considerations, including winter survival, disease resistance, and long-term productivity.
In this engaging session, participants will explore the industry in general, focusing on key aspects such as potential earnings, market opportunities, and common challenges. Brian will provide insights into structuring a successful operation, including the importance of having a solid marketing plan and financial projections.
Key Topics Covered:
Associate
Farm Credit of the Virginia's
Put your new skills into practice during this interactive working session. Participants are encouraged to explore the conference venue and capture photos and video using the techniques covered in Capture Smarter: Photography & Video Essentials for Small Businesses. Then, return to the lab for personalized support editing your content in Canva, refining your visuals, and troubleshooting challenges. Whether you're looking for feedback on composition, help creating a short social media video, or guidance adding branded graphics and text, this session provides one-on-one coaching to help you create polished, marketing-ready content.
Growing healthy, long-lived lavender starts with proper planting. This educational session covers the fundamentals of lavender cultivation, with a focus on planting techniques that support strong root development, disease prevention, and long-term productivity. You’ll learn lavender’s basic growing requirements—including soil preparation, drainage, spacing, and sun exposure—along with different planting methods such as in-ground planting, raised beds, mounded rows, and container growing. We’ll discuss when to plant, how to prepare young plants, and common mistakes that lead to failure.
In this hands-on, information-rich class, you’ll learn how to successfully propagate lavender plants and harvest them at their peak for beauty, fragrance, and long-term plant health. We’ll explore the life cycle of lavender, focusing on the best methods for propagation, including softwood and semi-hardwood cuttings, soil preparation, rooting conditions, and aftercare. You’ll gain confidence in choosing healthy parent plants and understanding when and why propagation succeeds—or fails. The class will also cover harvesting techniques for different purposes, whether you’re growing lavender for fresh bouquets, drying, culinary use, or essential oil. You’ll learn how to recognize the ideal harvest window, proper cutting methods, and how harvesting impacts plant longevity and future blooms.
Consistent content starts with a plan—not a last-minute scramble. This workshop helps small business owners and entrepreneurs develop a practical content strategy that aligns with their business goals and resonates with their audience. Participants will learn how to identify content pillars, map content to the customer journey, generate ideas that support their brand, and build a realistic content calendar they can maintain. The session also explores utilizing AI and workflows that make planning and repurposing content easier across websites, email marketing, blogs, and social media. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a repeatable framework for creating purposeful, engaging content that supports their business year-round.
Laughing Baby Farm
Learn how to make lavender salt for both culinary use and bath soaks in this hands-on class. We’ll cover the basics of selecting the right type of lavender, choosing safe and high-quality salts, and blending each recipe for its intended purpose. Participants will create an edible lavender salt that can be used to enhance baked goods, drinks, and savory dishes, as well as a fragrant bath salt designed for relaxation and self-care. This class is perfect for beginners, herbal enthusiasts, and anyone interested in simple, beautiful ways to use lavender at home.
Search is evolving, and small businesses need to understand how customers are finding information online. This introductory session provides an overview of search engine optimization (SEO) and the growing role of artificial intelligence in search. Participants will learn how traditional search engines work, how AI-powered search experiences are changing the way people discover businesses, and what these shifts mean for their online presence. The workshop also explores practical ways AI can support marketing efforts—from brainstorming ideas and conducting keyword research to improving website content and answering customer questions. By the end of the session, participants will have a clearer understanding of today's search landscape and simple, actionable steps they can take to improve their visibility online.
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