International Year of the Woman Farmer: Leanne
Who is Leanne?
Leanne is a lavendar farmer. She is also a mother, nurturer, wife and boss. Her journey started during a very difficult time in her life. Living life completely from her heart, she leaned on those who love her and was given a remarkable opportunity to create something vibrant and life-giving to all.
She shared with me the amazing story of how she found the farm and began her lavender farm. In her story though, you get to read about other amazing ventures she also worked on.
https://www.yorkfarmfresh.com/post/leanne-and-the-origin-of-the-giving-place
When people picture a farmer, they usually associate it with food. You are a lavender farmer, though. What does being a woman lavender farmer mean for you?
It's empowering. It's resilient. It's not always easy. Every day it's not always easy. Most people certainly have no idea what it is to farm lavender unless they're doing it themselves.
I don't really consider myself a farmer. Everything comes from my heart. I'm driven by my heart and the energy that I received back for putting in the energy that I do to grow lavender. The actual business of being a lavender farmer has taught me a lot. I started off knowing nothing and killing plants in my own house, and suddenly learning how to grow and harvest many different varieties through trial and error. I know obviously we need to focus a little bit on being a woman, but it's not that I differentiate myself from anybody or anything. It's just what I do and I just happen to be a woman at the same time and a mom.
There's an interesting study that came out in 2023. Where it identified that something like over 25% of women who participate in farming, have trouble identifying themselves as a farmer. I was wondering why you think that is? And to kind of piggyback on what you were saying about why you have a hard time identifying as a farmer.
Because I think it's such a multitasking hat that I don't see myself doing just one thing, and that lavender itself isn't the thing that produces the income or the lifestyle, it's just one aspect of many. I guess it feels like it's just flowers. It feels like it's not as impressive as a cornfield or using all these big machines. Everything has to be pretty much done by hand. You can use machines, but for the way that I grow you can't ‘cause I grow so many different varieties. I've just really never thought of it as something serious. I did get into the business looking for something to create extra income. I guess I feel like maybe the credibility of it, maybe it hasn't been around long enough in Ontario, Canada. There weren’t a lot of people before me doing it in our area; it took me a while to find a really good mentor. I'm not sure if that's why. Because it was something new and it was something kind of trendy…I never really thought about it as a farm. Once I added animals and other things to create that identity, well, I still feel like it's not big enough, like it's not big enough to call a lavender farm even though we have 4600 plants.
So how do you define what a farmer is?
I think it would be somebody that makes their full-time living off of their crop.
Do you do that?
That's the real question. So, this is my second year doing it full time. I’ve been doing it since 2018. Before that it was part time.
It doesn't make a massive income. I have to diversify it into so many different things to create the income. So I don't know. I guess maybe I sell myself short. I feel like organically we've exploded over the last two years. Even though not much has changed other than more awareness, it's still the same amount of work. So that's a really good point. I never really thought about it that way before. I think women in general don't take on the identity of being a farmer because it's such a different kind of farming [lavender]. It's not the black and white kind that we've always kind of said this is farming.
Although You identified farming as growing something for a living.
Yeah, right. Yes, yeah, absolutely.
You also mentioned how you've had to diversify your crop in order to make that living happen. A lot of farmers start out with one or two things, but then because of the economy and market pressures, they have to diversify.
I'm also thinking as you're speaking that a big part of it is confidence. This is what I do and I'm proud of it and this is what I'm accomplishing. I think I'm starting to notice it more. I'm proud of what it does for other people, but again, maybe it's because I'm a woman, I'm so worried I'm more of a people pleaser than. Which is kind of like a very feminine trait in the sense that it's kind of like a mom who looks after kids and trying to look after everything isn't really looking at themselves.
Piggybacking on all of that stuff, why is farming important to you?
Oh, it is so important because there's no life without it. Everything that grows, whether it's grass or trees or flowers or oxygen and air and calmness and mental health and everything comes down to growing. Our cities are getting more and more concrete, more and more roads, less and less wildlife, less nature. I think it's so important that we're reconnecting and I feel like over COVID, it was a wake up call. Everybody started to realize how they've been living this rat race and how being in nature is life. You need it to survive. I think it's important to have a place where you can regenerate and others can regenerate and sharing that and teaching and making sure that we don't forget what life is.
What advice would you give a younger version of yourself? Knowing what you know now, and where you are now, what advice would you give to a younger version of yourself?
Oh, I like that. I love that question. I use that against my kids all the time or whenever there's an obstacle. I look at it even with myself, but I've never really thought about it this way. I probably would have started sooner. Plan the plan; there's always obstacles, there's always change, there's always adoption, there's always resilience, there's all the things that you can change. One thing I would definitely figure out is the money aspect.
I don't know how I could have changed it in all honesty. I did it part time for 8 years or so, and it was amazing. All the right people showed up and it all was heart centred and everything that I needed. Looking back I don't know if I could have changed anything. I would just maybe plan the financial part a little better. Realizing that you need to invest a lot before what you need comes back in. It feels so great that everybody says you're doing a great job and everything's beautiful and heartfelt and it's stunning.
At the end of the day, I still need to survive and I still need to pay the bills. It's not easy. I would've kept something else on the side before going all in. Or I would have saved more. There's so many directions you can go with it.
Because you have a unique slice of the agriculture pie, what advice would you give a young woman, maybe even your daughter, who's interested in entering the agriculture business on a farm like yours.
I would definitely suggest to not be everything to everybody. I've gone everywhere from retail, to having events, and we're online, I also have a store…it's all amazing and I love it. But from a business perspective, it would probably have been wiser to pick a couple of areas to focus on. I was so afraid of being behind the ball, I was afraid of missing out on an opportunity with Lavender, with what I had access to. I probably tried to do too much. I would tell them to really focus on one direction and kind of stick with it.
This is not a judgment question, honestly curious, why didn't you listen to the people who said the same thing to you?
Because my heart kept pulling me in different directions for fear of failure. Fear of being told what to do and that they wouldn’t understand; fear and my gut because at the same time how I got this farm and how I started went against what everybody told me. It was illogical and it worked and the universe supported me.
[ASIDE: Leanne shared her origin story, if you will, with me. I am including a link to it here as it was amazing and lengthy. You can read all about it here --> https://www.yorkfarmfresh.com/post/leanne-and-the-origin-of-the-giving-place ]
Making a plan is great advice, but what more would you encourage them to do? What kind of things would you encourage them to put in that plan?
I guess one thing that I did and do: know you don't have to do it by yourself. The second thing would be: don't be afraid to ask for help. Ask from the heart (and accept that help). Be Genuine.
A lot of people were not happy with me. I can honestly say that. They weren't happy when they found out that I got this place. They thought I was nuts. They said, “what are you gonna do? Like you've got 4 kids, you're a single mom, and you've got this big property and you're, you know, you're just rebuilding your life and you've got this big corporate job and how are you, like what are you thinking?”
And I thank God that I didn't listen to them. I just listened to what felt right for me. So I know it kind of contradicts what I started with, but that part is so genuine and transparent that I don't regret any of that. The story is incredible.
What advice would you give to a newcomer to Canada, an immigrant woman who is interested in agriculture, maybe someone who is interested more specifically in your line of agriculture, like culinary plants?
I would tell them to get a part-time job or volunteer with other farms or places that are doing what they need to learn or do. One quick example of that would be I'm allergic to bees. And of course, after planting lavender, I found out I have these bees all over my property. I was terrified. I thought, “I can't let that stop me. Like I need to conquer this fear.” I found another woman who, along with her husband, were the bee inspectors for Ontario at the time. She was allergic to bees, and yet here she was working with them on a regular basis. I asked her if she could teach me about bees. I thought if she can do it, I can do it. I had now already got this farm, and I needed my fear of bees to not stop me. She taught me that bees are actually gentle and kind. They're not like wasps and hornets. Going back to your question, if I was a newcomer here, I would take whatever fears I have and try to align myself with other people that are doing things that I really want to do. I would help them so that I can also learn how to do it better or how to conquer it or how to start.
Do you think the agriculture industry is designed to favour men? And if so, why? And if not, also why?
I would definitely say in magazines, literature, and books about farming, it's definitely more prominent to see a man on a tractor. So, yes, but I think that's also because of history. There are more men in farming than there are women. I do think it's changing, because I think women have embraced it more, certainly during COVID.
This isn't an official question. This is branching off a little bit. You gave a definition of farming as nurturing, growing food to feed people. Given that's your definition of farming, and we both agreed that men don't see themselves as nurturers, why do you think the agriculture industry is favourable to men? Given the understanding of what it means to be a farmer.
Because I think men typically have always been the provider. But I think women are realizing they've been providing a lot more than they were ever given credit for or that they ever realized themselves. I think there is an awakening.
OK, another not official question for you. You use the term provider as another way of defining what a farmer is and what “men do for their families.” What is the difference between someone who provides and someone who nurtures?
You're pretty funny. That's a good question. Somebody who stereotypically would provide the financials and the means to help you get all the things that you need to survive. Whereas nurture would be, “to make it more meaningful.” I'm not saying that's true. I'm saying in my mind when I think of nurture I think of everything with feeling with heart. So still providing everything that's needed but with feeling and emotion.
My final question is, what do you wish the public understood more about what it means to be a woman farmer?
People don't realize the amount of work that goes into wearing so many hats. I know that can be challenging if somebody's just looking at me as a lavender farmer because I don't identify myself as a lavender farmer after this conversation, but like last night for instance I was speaking about Lavender and that I'm still learning myself. I would say that not realizing the amount of other work that goes in beyond just the flower or the plants, but all of the different levels of work and effort and thought that have to go into it. Lavender goes on all season and you have to think of all of the different uses for you to make an income from it.
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