We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mass & Christine Arezzi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mass & Christine below.

Alright, Mass & Christine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

In May 2021 we sold our house in Toronto and bought a small farm in Wiarton. Starting a farm had been something we had thought about for a long time, but we didn’t think it would be possible until we were retired. We were both working in management roles in the financial services industry, commuting downtown every day. And then the pandemic started, and stretched on and on, and we said to each other, let’s do it now! We were very fortunate to be able to work from home and start our small farm on the side. In June 2021 we planted our first 1,200 lavender plants. Then in 2022 we planted another 600. Now we have 5 different varieties of English and French, we distill our own essential oil, and handmade our products. From bath salts, to soy candles, linen and cleaning sprays, to sachets, dried bundles, and much more. Summer 2023 brought the opening of a small shop on our property and the farm being open on the weekends to visitors. We hosted events such as yoga and painting in the field. And we have big plans for the future. We are so happy we took this risk, we love our new home and the life we have created here!

Mass & Christine, 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?

We decided to become lavender farmers because it is such a beautiful, environmentally friendly crop with endless opportunities for products and services. Also the properties of lavender are amazing, from helping one sleep, improving headaches, reducing stress, increasing relaxation. While it is a growing industry in Ontario, each farm begins to define their niche. We strive to be as sustainable as possible, we use minimal water, and no chemicals. We choose our packaging so that it can be recycled, and we offer a discount when customers return their containers. We reuse packaging from our suppliers as well. We individually handmake our products to ensure the finest quality. However, we also keep our products priced as reasonably as we can.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

We felt that being involved in many different activities that are important to us was the best way to get started. We have a young son so we got involved in school activities and the arts are important so we started working with the local art gallery. We also became involved with the local chamber of commerce, in order to meet the nearby business community. And we went to farmers markets and restaurants and shops to get to know our community. We participated in markets as a vendor so that we could meet new clients and several local businesses started offering our products in their shops. We have been active on social media and have done advertising in local magazines, and we organized a garden tour and other events at the farm which boosted our visibility.

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

In addition to our lavender products we also offer farm tours, events in the field including yoga and painting, photographers can book time slots with their clients and we will be adding glamping options in the future. These are all a significant revenue opportunity for us. We also plan to offer additional events such as education events (make your own candle or wreath) down the road.

Contact Info:

• Website: Bluewaterlavender.com
• Instagram: Bluewater_lavender_farm

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