We were lucky to catch up with Norbert Steiger recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Norbert thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

My wife and I bought a 100 acre property in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York in 2022. The land is comprised of 50 acres of forest, 8 acres of ponds and 35 acres of farmable land. When we purchased the property, the land was leased to a commercial farming operation, which grew corn and wheat on the land. After experiencing the large quantities of pesticides/herbicides that were sprayed on our land we decided to cancel the lease and farm the land ourselves. Now the big question was…….what to plant if you really do not have a farming background. While I grew up on a dairy farm in Switzerland I did not have much knowledge in crop farming so I started researching, which brought me to lavender as a good potential. Lavender grows nicely in this area and the land was suitable as it has well draining soil. While making big money is not necessarily the number one priority for our endeavor, nonetheless lavender can be a profitable crop to grow. I bought several books on how to plant, grow, harvest and process lavender, watched YouTube videos and did online research. We planted our first batch of lavender field plugs in May of 2023 and followed by a second planting in May of 2024 and I harvested the first crop in August of 2024 for a total of 1,500 plants with plans to continue planting more over time.

Norbert, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I just retired from 35 years in international business having travelled to over 60 countries during my professional career and now looking to enjoy the quiet life on our 100 acre farm. Having grown up around farming I always had the dream of owning a farm in some shape or form. We found this beautiful property in the Finger Lakes region of New York that is famous for cold temperature wines similar to the regions of Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
We decided to plant different varieties of vinifera grapes to test out which ones would do best on our land and also planted about 1 acre (1,500 plants) of different lavender varieties. We had our first lavender harvest in the summer of 2024 and so far have used most of the harvest as dried lavender after selling fresh lavender at local markets during the summer season. We have created lavender soaps with the help of a friend and are looking also to create lavender gin or vodka with a partner company and will produce our first lavender oil after the next harvest.
In general our aim is to create a true nature preserve on our land that creates benefits for insects, birds and wildlife in general. We do not use any pesticides or herbicides and only use organics to protect our plants.
We are just starting our journey and I honestly do not know yet where it will take us….we will see….

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I decided to retire early (at 61) as I was just worn out after 35 years of constant traveling and the stress of business life in general. I know many people are very much in this kind of situation but do not know what the next step after retirement should be. I like to work outdoors and to be in nature so for me the decision was quite clear in that I wanted to own a good amount of land on which I can farm and stay active while I can.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

All my life I worked in established companies with a secure income until I decided at 51 years of age that I wanted to change and start a company of my own together with a partner. This venture unfortunately failed after 5 years of trying to get it off the ground. The main reason behind the failure was a lack of sufficient funding to produce units for trial by potential customers. When I invested in the next start-up I only did so after I knew that this company had sufficient funding capital to survive and it turned out to be a very successful venture. Obviously having the right product/service is of the utmost importance but in my view sufficient capital to survive the initial ups and downs is even more important.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://serendipityfarmflx.com
• Instagram: serendipity_farm_flx