Lavender is a Mediterranean plant; Nebraska is not the Mediterranean. That’s what makes Sleepy Bees such a good story. Jerry and Holly McCabe fell in love with lavender at their own wedding, and when their jobs moved out of state, they bought 21 acres in Firth and bet on it. They started in 2018 with two hives, two packages of bees, and a crash course in wintering lavender through sub-zero Nebraska cold.
They focus on culinary lavender — English and intermediate varieties — grown without pesticides or herbicides, drip-irrigated, weeded and harvested by hand, with honeybees doing the pollinating. Visit during bloom season for ticketed farm tours and u-pick (kids twelve and under are free; buy tickets ahead), then shop the farm’s bath, body, home, and culinary products. Can’t make the drive? They sell at Lincoln farmers markets from May through September. Plan around the bloom, not around your free Saturday — check their calendar before you go.