For years, SLO County-based farmer Gina Hambly and her husband have been surrounded by a single color—purple.
“Everything is lavender,” Gina Hambly said laughing. “We grow it, we use it, and we are immersed in it constantly.”
Hambly Farms, located at 1390 Grana Place, San Miguel, is a six-generation, long-running venture with the lavender portion opening in 2019. It’s been a fixture in the northern Paso Robles/San Miguel region, and Hambly and her husband decided to focus on the famous aromatic plant after realizing how versatile it could be.
“Everything we make is handcrafted, and lavender is incredibly adaptable to a variety of things,” Hambly said. “So it has been really neat to see how many things we have been able to make just using lavender as a base.”
With the holiday season fast approaching, Hambly wanted to bring her family’s love of lavender to everyone with special holiday promotions and event showcases throughout December.
“We have a lot of special little gift boxes and events we plan on showing up at in full force, including the Makeshift Muse Markets on Dec. 9 and 10, all of it,” she said pausing to chuckle. “Everything is lavender-based, of course.”
Those gift boxes can contain a variety of products sourced from their farm, according to Hambly.
“Our most popular items are usually things like our goat’s milk soap, our essential lavender-based oils, and our hot bags,” she said. “Those hot bags, which are traditionally either put in the fridge or warmed up, offer a nice little form of soothing relief and during this time of year come in custom holiday prints.”
Most of those products also have a local twist to them, Hambly said, as they are almost entirely made of materials sourced from fellow SLO County farmers.
“One of the biggest reasons we do it is because it supports our fellow local farms and we get to know exactly what is going into what we are making,” she said. “And of course, the best part is supporting our friends and fellow farmers.”
That community connection is one of the most important parts of being a farmer in SLO County, according to Hambly. It’s part of why she and her husband try to do so many markets and pop-up events in the area.
“And it really does come back around,” she said. “I remember someone coming up to us at one of our recent events and saying how they remembered us from a completely different event—didn’t even buy anything from us at that time but saw how we supported the community and wanted to return the favor.”
In an era of online shopping, Hambly feels like person-to-person communication is more important than ever.
“We have all gotten so busy, especially this year, I feel like everyone is getting back into their regular-ish rhythms of day-to-day life, so online is just easier,” she said. “We have a pretty robust online store [hamblyfarms.com] that accommodates for that, but we do want to encourage more in-person interactions.”
One of the many ways Hambly and her husband plan to get more people to shop in person isn’t quite ready for this year, but the pair is nonetheless excited to launch a new opportunity in 2024.
“In the future, specifically May 2024, we are trying to have a more open experience where, for a month or so, people will be able to come up to the farm and experience a day up here,” she said, adding that the project has been something the pair has wanted to do for a while, and next year seemed like the perfect time.
Hambly said the most important things going forward are working day in and day out to keep the farm going and the family tradition alive.
“We are very passionate about what we do, why we do it, and how we do it, especially when it is just my husband and I—the focus is always that family spirit,” she said. “When we are done with the markets and promotions, all my kids are coming home and we are going celebrate that: the family traditions that keep all of us together.”
Fast fact
• The city of San Luis Obispo is spreading the holiday cheer by offering 12 select days of free parking at all downtown parking structures. The days include all Sundays leading up to New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas. For more information on the promotion or where to find the parking structure that’s closest to your favorite restaurant or store, visit slocity.org. Δ
Reach Staff Writer Adrian Vincent Rosas at arosas@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Nov 30 – Dec 10, 2023.