In 2007 my husband, Tom, was contemplating retirement. He had watched an Our Ohio episode on PBS about the first lavender farm in Ohio, and he began to think he would like to have a lavender farm when he retired. He spent several years talking about it, but we did not own the right property to start this adventure. Then in 2011 he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He was told he might only have five years to live, but his radiation oncologist gave him the best advice ever, he told him to keep living. Tom had been in every state but North and South Dakota, Alaska, and Hawaii. Once his initial treatment was done, we visited North and South Dakota. In the fall of 2014, the cancer metastasized to his lung. He spent the rest of that fall going through chemo and had cyber knife radiation in the first part of 2015.
While he was going through this, we had found a piece of property that we dreamed about owning for our lavender farm. It wasn’t for sale, but we knew the family who owned it. Then on July 4, 2015, we were looking at it online and realized a parcel of it had sold. We immediately called the owners and offered to buy the other parcel. That fall we closed on the first parcel of what would become Sunset Ridge, and left on a trip to Hawaii. When we got home, we got to explore the land more and were amazed at how rolling the property was. We were also amazed at how many ticks found us every time we explored. The land had been used for pasture and was completely overgrown. We decided to join the Great Lakes Lavender Association to learn more about growing lavender. We knew this wasn’t going to support us, but our plan was to make enough money to take an occassional nice vacation. In 2016 we had the opportunity to buy the adjoining parcel that had sold the precious year. In 2017, we had the Amish build our famous purple barn, and we planted our first 2000 plants. That August, we made it to Alaska.
We ended up losing 400 plants that first winter, but we kept at it. We’ve planted and replanted, and maxed out at over 5000 plants surviving at one time. We started out doing local festivals, but then Covid hit. While Covid was going on, we would still be out working in the field and people would just stop in to see the property and they loved it. We decided to complete our shop in 2020 and open to the public in 2021. Our first year was tough, and we thought we would try it one more year. The next year someone put us on Ohio Road Trips and things got crazy. We had people coming from out of state, while many local people didn’t realize we were here. Then in the spring of 2025, we took our biggest hit and lost over 1200 French lavender plants. It was our worst year, and I spent many weeks wondering if we should just give up. I worried about that because I believe this farm is the reason Tom is still here. Then I got my hands in the soil, planting our new field. I realized this wasn’t just for Tom, but it also meant so much to me.
I love what we’re trying to do. It’s been a huge learning experience and while we still haven’t made a profit to pay for that vacation, we discovered that we had created a place for people to visit and find something magical, and that gives us both something that you cannot place a value on. This year it will be fifteen years since Tom’s diagnosis and I truly believe that this land and purpose has kept him here. We have had so many lovely people visit and have had wonderful conversations with many of you. That is what keeps us going. We hope when you visit, you find that Sunset Ridge offers you whatever your soul needs. We feel blessed every day that we get to be temporary stewards of this beautiful farm and share it with you!
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Thank you for your support!
JoAnn and Tom Moore
March 2026
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“To be able to merge your intrinsic love of nature and your extrinsic motivation to make the world a better place is a prerequisite to instilling a land steward’s work ethic. This ethic, a land ethic, will propel you through difficult times of labor, diminished hope, or lethargy on a cold hard day, and it will carry you to the light of living life for more than just yourself.” (Bennett Artman)