Bill MacElroy never thought he'd return to farming. Growing up on a farm in upstate New York near Saratoga Springs, he swore he'd "never go back anywhere near one ever again." Yet, here he stands today as general manager of Monte-Bellaria, Northern California's largest lavender farm.
MacElroy's path to lavender farming took him through 35 years as a research scientist in San Francisco before making the move to Sonoma County. While people expected this to be a jarring transition, MacElroy found surprising continuity between his two careers.
"As a research scientist, your life is involved with test and measurement. And so is agriculture -- seeing what's going to grow, see what takes, what doesn't," he said.
This scientific approach proved invaluable when establishing Monte-Bellaria di California. The farm began as an experimental patch, where MacElroy tested seven different lavender varieties to determine which would thrive best in their specific conditions. Through careful observation and testing, it identified one variety that far outperformed all the others -- and that's what now covers its 9.5 acres of lavender fields.
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