“We bought the ranch in 1997,” says Bess. “It was our anniversary, the day before Thanksgiving. It wasn’t planned that way, it just happened.” Bess, originally from Texas, and Cliff, from Ohio, spent 25 years in Santa Fe where they raised a family and grew their commercial heating and cooling business. “Cliff sold the business to his employees and was going to retire and play golf for the rest of his life,” Bess explains. “All I wanted was a little flower bed to grow lavender.” This flowerbed – more than a dozen acres which lie before her - is surely more than she imagined.
As its name would suggest, the ranch is home to some of the finest lavender New Mexico has to offer. The first season the Crouches invested in 3,500 French lavender plants and lost half of them that winter. The next year was more promising, and more varieties were added. Today there are three: natural, grosso and French. “I like to describe her as a dainty French lady with a silk and lace parasol in the sun,” smiles Bess of the French variety. The grosso also has a personality, which Bess describes as “sassy. She’ll get up in your face and tell you like it is.”
In addition to its signature lavender, the ranch also encompasses several hundred acres, some of which are dedicated to the you-pick-it business that draws people in from all over the state and beyond. This season, a chalkboard outside their little general store delivers the organic menu for the picking: lavender, raspberries, rosemary, squash, green beans, black eyed peas, okra and cucumber. Inside, a baker’s case reveals handmade desserts from the ranch’s bounty, like raspberry lavender jelly, lavender scones, cranberry orange scones, lavender shortbread and raspberry pistachio candy. Lavender lemonade is offered to quench your thirst, and after sucking down the first glass you immediately want another. Everything at Lavender Spring Ranch is organic. “You can eat the dirt, but it doesn’t taste good,” laughs Bess.
The farm was a perfect way for Judy Mueller to spend an afternoon with her mother, Eleanor and her niece Darlene, who enjoyed a raspberry sundae after handpicking her own berries. “We enjoyed every minute of it,” Judy said. Paul and Marilyn
Jordan, of Sun Lakes, Arizona, lost themselves among the lavender that afternoon. “We came to spend the weekend in Ruidoso,” notes Marilyn. “We’ve never been to this area, and had heard about the Ranch. We decided to come see it for ourselves.” Adds Paul, “It’s like another world here.”
Bess harnesses a rare power to grow gifts from the soil. She raised three children and between them boasts seven grandchildren. She has the enthusiasm, energy and curiosity of a young child, yet speaks with the wisdom of someone beyond her years. Her eyes smile as she leaps through her fields, overjoyed as she recounts tale after tale of visitors who have shared an afternoon with her, picking her berries, sharing her wares. Bess is a storyteller, and her tales on the ranch are as rich as her smile. She loves to share the history of the ranch: the generosity of Jesus and his father Vicente, her two hired hands on the ranch who travel from Michoacan on work visas to help out on the ranch; the history of the original adobe house on the property where the original owner, Aristeo Lucero, was born; the lineage of each creature that calls Lavender Spring Ranch home. It starts with her beloved ducks.
“There were three when we came, but sadly they all met their demise. Now we are back to a family of eight, and when you see one, you see them all,” says Bess. In addition to the geese, the Ranch is home to four Golden Layer ducks and two domesticated ducks. All animals on the Ranch band together to care for one another, and the joy in Bess’ heart radiates from her voice as she tells the story about when one of the mother ducks laid eggs by a couple of lavender plants. “We watched her for several weeks, and when she needed a break to go take a swim, the geese would guard her eggs.” Patches, in usual fashion, was never far behind.
For this couple, married the day before Thanksgiving, there is much to be thankful for. Nature’s majesty, a bountiful harvest, and the promise of another day to spend at Lavender Spring Ranch.
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