Published June 10, 2007 11:45 pm - APACHE, Okla. — The color palette of the southwest Oklahoma landscape includes many prominent hues, from the dusty rust of Oklahoma’s red dirt, to the brilliant greens of rain-soaked hills, to the scintillating blues of a summer lake and the storied amber waves of grain.

Oklahoma: Apache family adds new color to landscape
The Associated Press

APACHE, Okla. — The color palette of the southwest Oklahoma landscape includes many prominent hues, from the dusty rust of Oklahoma’s red dirt, to the brilliant greens of rain-soaked hills, to the scintillating blues of a summer lake and the storied amber waves of grain.

But for the past few years, northwest of Apache there has been a brilliant new color sprouting on the horizon, a color not exactly synonymous with Oklahoma: lavender.

“There are other non-conventional crops that you can grow to bring the state into prosperity,” said Jag Sodhi, a semiretired professor and software engineer who four years ago was told by Washington lavender farmers that it would be impossible to grow the much-appreciated plant in Sooner soil.

Sodhi took that claim as a challenge, and today his Lavender Valley Acres serves as living proof that the Washingtonians were wrong.

“What happened was when I took the challenge I brought different kinds of lavender back so I could experiment,” he said.

Sodhi’s experimentation led to a list of 10 varieties of lavender that the second-career farmer has now successfully grown. And surprisingly, not all of the lavender varieties are lavender in color.

“Each variety has different properties; lavender is not only purple in color,” he said.

The Oklahoma-suitable varieties have flowers ranging in color from the dark purple “hidcote” to the silver-green “French” to the aptly named white flowers of the “white spikes” variety.

The colors, though, are just the backdrop for Sodhi. It is what’s inside the plant — its oil — that holds the true allure.

“It’s been used for centuries for all sorts of health problems,” he said. “It relaxes you. If you want to relax and sleep well, put a few drops in your bathtub.”

Sodhi said the oil is an antiseptic. That’s why, he said, soldiers in World War I carried the oil with them to rub on battle wounds. Sodhi said the oil also keeps mosquitoes and insects away. And like the World War I soldiers, he keeps a tiny jar of the oil in his pocket always. Dabbing the oil on his arm, he tells of its properties with the verve of a smitten man.

“People have been using this for many, many years,” he said. “This is not me talking to sell anything. I’m retired.”

Lavender Valley Acres has all 10 varieties of lavender planted, a greenhouse where infant lavender plants are nursed to independence, and a small gift shop where homemade lavender oils, lotions and sachets, as well as other lavender products, are for sale.

Sodhi’s wife Lynda even uses the oil in her cooking. She said the oil can go into any food, but one of her favorite recipes is for lavender cookies. She said the lavender’s importance to the recipe is for its health benefits; the lavender taste is barely detectable.

Oklahoma: Apache family adds new color to landscape

“To me, you have to have a really good palate,” she said. “If you’re not used to tasting different things, you might not notice it in there. It doesn’t necessarily have a taste, but when you swallow it, you can feel the aroma and smell.”

Thomas Sodhi, a Cameron University student and the couple’s son, helps his father on the farm. He said most of the visitors to Lavender Valley Acres come to purchase plants of their own. That’s just fine with Jag Sodhi.

“We’re looking to help other people since we’ve already experimented,” he said.

One result of that experimentation is a new growing method the Sodhis began using this year. Jag Sodhi laid down a series of black fabric tarps on his lavender fields before cutting rows of holes in the fabric. He then planted the lavender plants inside the holes. The fabric has two main advantages, he said.

“The fabric helps us by spreading out the water when it rains,” he said. “And we don’t have to kill all of the weeds.”

Rain has proved to be the major enemy of the plant. Before this year, rain hadn’t been a problem in the Sodhi’s usually parched corner of Oklahoma. But when torrential downpours blasted Apache earlier this spring, Jag Sodhi said he lost many of his plants.

“In the four years, we’ve been very comfortable,” he said, “except this year when we got nine inches of rain in one day. That hurt us.”

The damaged lavender is starting to recover, however, just in time for Lavender Valley’s seasonal shop hours to begin. The farm opened to the public in May and will stay open through July 15. The shop’s hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, or by special appointment.

On June 23, the Sodhis will hold their third annual Lavender Festival from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will include tours of the site and demonstrations of the lavender products, as well as a number of outside vendors and artists. Visitors can also watch the family’s pet peacocks, including white peacocks imported from Thailand.

For those interested in growing the plant themselves, however, the main draw will likely be the chance to learn from Jag Sodhi himself. He said he would love to see more farms like his own scattered among the wheat fields that surround his home. In the meantime, though, the family is hard at work on its own land — and loving every minute of it.

Jag Sodhi said he’s not sure how long he’ll keep his hand in lavender farming, but so far he’s found no reason to stop.

“I enjoy it,” he said. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t do it. I will do whatever God wills, but so far, I think we are happy.”