King George Lavender & Mercantile is a family owned and operated lavender farm located in Barnwell, SC. The owners George and Elinor Poole purchased their farm in 2016 and permanently moved to Barnwell in 2018 from Central New York. George comes from a large 3rd generation farm family which raised Holstein dairy cows, grew and managed field crops, and they continue today to take great satisfaction in watching the land produce sustainable food for the herd. Elinor grew up in a similar environment, in the farmlands of Pennsylvania on a small farm that raised chickens as well as vegetable and flower crops. It too was a family affair, with her dad teaching her how to care for animals, grow plants, and to live off the land. And so it felt inevitable that these two would eventually leave the desk jobs that pulled them away from their family farms, to pursue their shared vision of owning and operating a lavender farm that could provide a place for their family, friends, and community to enjoy.
George and Elinor knew for years that their dream would take them to South Carolina, but why Barnwell? In 2014 they started their explorations down the backroads of rural SC trying to find the perfect property. And after two years of searching, they fell in love first with a piece of land in Barnwell and then with the area itself. The property was a diamond in the rough, with open spaces for lavender fields and paddocks for their horses, as well as a large pond that added to the charm of the property. Barnwell also had all the amenities they were looking for, with small and commercial shopping, farm supplies, industry, restaurants, scenery, history, and a friendly southern hometown. It felt like home.
The long journey to having a lavender crop would officially begin in 2018, when the couple started working closely with Rob Last from Clemson Cooperative Extension to make sure that the fields would be set for planting, with consultations on field layout, irrigation design and soil tests. Then began the feat of planting 8,000 lavender plants- prepping the fields, putting in raised rows, planting each youngling by hand, and weed eating…lots of WEED EATING! But the hard work paid off when the fields turned purple the following spring.
Throughout those first few years they let the fields take root, and today you can join them on the farm every June and July, for their annual Lavender Festival and u-pick days. They have also created several indoor and outdoor spaces around the farm to host private events and weddings, alongside their own events such as dinners, comedy shows, tours, and distillation demonstrations. They have created a small shop on the farm, in addition to a Mercantile shop in the heart of Barnwell, both which feature fresh lavender flowers for sale, and various products produced from their hand distilled lavender essential oils such as lotions, pet products, linen sprays, natural bug repellents, hair products and newly added lavender infused pillowcases and Olive Oils.
You can follow the Poole family’s ever expanding adventures with lavender at
kinggeorgelavender.com, and visit their Mercantile shop year round Thur-Sat at 9257 Marlboro Ave, Barnwell, SC.
