'A gem, tucked away'
Mark Casad of Warren Wood Wrights works on the barn that will serve as an event venue and a drying house for lavender grown at the farm. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
The setting for the barn, a brief distance from busy Federal Street and Route 1, has a decidedly pastoral feel. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
A closer view of the barn-to-be. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Michelle Peele will shield these lavender shrubs with fabric for the winter. The harvested lavender will get to dry in the new barn. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Wendy Caron, left, of Boothbay Harbor and Michelle Peele have fun working at the site of a riverside barn, at Peele's Marianmade Farm in Wiscasset. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Mark Casad of Warren Wood Wrights works on the barn that will serve as an event venue and a drying house for lavender grown at the farm. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
The setting for the barn, a brief distance from busy Federal Street and Route 1, has a decidedly pastoral feel. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
A closer view of the barn-to-be. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Michelle Peele will shield these lavender shrubs with fabric for the winter. The harvested lavender will get to dry in the new barn. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Wendy Caron, left, of Boothbay Harbor and Michelle Peele have fun working at the site of a riverside barn, at Peele's Marianmade Farm in Wiscasset. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Maine's prettiest village has managed to get even prettier.
Down Sherman Lane off Federal Street in Wiscasset, floral designer Michelle Peele is growing rows of lavender along a path to the Sheepscot River. The rocky path slopes downward in a series of curves that mirror the curves of the river below.
Lavender originated near the Mediterranean Sea, and doesn't grow easily in Peele's native North Carolina. But Maine has low humidity like the Mediterranean. Using raised beds for drainage helps defeat lavender's foe: wet roots or “feet,” as Peele called them.
The lavender rows overlook the spot where Peele and her contractor are putting up a 32-foot-by-60-foot barn where she'll hang the lavender to dry.
The single story, “monitor” style of barn, with lots of upper windows, helps concentrate heat high up to aid the drying process. Also known as “lavender-drying houses,” the barns can be found in Europe, but there are none currently in Maine, Peele said.
The sunny, windy morning of October 11, Peele and friend Wendy Caron of Boothbay Harbor were finishing painting 3,200 square feet of ceiling boards for the barn.
Slated for completion early next spring, the building will double as a venue for weddings and other events. The Wiscasset Garden Club has already made plans to hold its annual luncheon there next June.
The club's vice president Emily Adler has checked out the scenery at Peele's Marianmade Farm. “It's a charming spot that's going to get even more charming. I think it's sort of a gem, tucked away,” she said.
Susan Johns can be reached at 844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.
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