What do you do with a plant that hates water and most things can’t eat? If you’re Bill MacElroy, you grow 35,000 of them. Monte-Bellaria di California is the largest lavender
farm in Northern California, spanning 9.5 acres of planted lavender. Most of the farm’s production focuses on the high-yielding “grosso” variety, a cross between sweet-smelling English lavender and Portuguese spike lavender. The “herbal, camphorous smell” of grosso, with the beeswax gathered on-site, is perfect for blending the farm’s signature essential oils, aromatherapy perfumes, soaps and culinary products. “In aromatherapy, camphor opens the bronchial passages much more effectively than more perfumey lavender,” MacElroy says…