Road Trip: Hazelwood Herb Farm

We did a big renovation on our house about 10 years ago. Before then, I had quite a nice herb garden established, but it was pretty much trashed. I've been slowly trying to rebuild it over the years — many of the hardier herbs are quite easy to grow here and make a nice addition to flower/vegetable gardens. One of my go to places for herbs and inspiration is the Hazelwood Herb Farm, which is between Nanaimo and Ladysmith.



They have a wide selection of herbs (obviously) that will grow substantially as the season progresses. While you can get many herbs at other garden shops, this has a wonderful selection of things you've likely never heard of. Such as this:



Twickle Purple Lavender. Almost makes you want to buy it just for the name. (It's up there with Drunken Woman Lettuce.) This is also where I got my wasabi plants last year.

All of the plants are well-labelled with information and instructions close by.





Their well-established herb gardens are wonderful for a wander and give you an idea of what the plant will look like once it's released into your garden. They have a small shop with herbal culinary products, teas, cosmetics, pet products, and foods (this was where I picked up a jar of pickled cherries with some sort of herb years ago) and the staff are very friendly and knowledgeable.





The farm is just off the highway south of the Cassidy Airport. Watch for the signs just past the airport (going south, you turn left off the highway). The farm's website gives you all their contact and location information.