aboutus

My name is Vivian Nielsen and I am a
Special Education teacher who dreamed
of one day living in the country. I loved
the city life but because of the stresses
that occur from working with "at risk"
students I was feeling wiped out by the
end of my workdays.
The Nielsen family is a group of artists
who have never heard of the word can't.
So when I said I wanted to move into the
country and build my own house and
gardens they said OK, lets do it!

During the next five years we built a 3,000
square foot shop the old fashioned way.
We built it ourselves. Me, my husband, in
laws, my brother, and our two teenage
children learned how to use carpenters
tools and work together as a team. It was
a lot of work and a lot of fun.
We ended up selling our city house and
moved into the shop while we worked on
it. Not many people can say that they
have lived in a shop!

A few things came our way that were
challenging our dreams. My father in law
got cancer and my teaching job was
putting a toll on my physical health.
Having a lavender farm open to the
public was going to be a someday in the
future proposition but now it looked as if
the timing needed to be moved up. We
took a leap of faith.

I quit my job and now just substitute in my
local district. My full time job now is my
lavender farm and this website!

My daughter harvesting in the
field on a hot summer day.

We have lots of friends helping
  to make this lavender farm a
         dream come true!

The products I make on the farm
include banana scented lotion !!

Keep checking up on this site to
follow the rest of my journey!

About Us

Garden Gate
Lavender
Farms