A Christmas Letter from the Farm

Photo: Tole planters from Mais Oui were originally styled with dry flowers at Rosewood Florist. How’s that for holiday nostalgia? This year, they were reworked by Terri at the farm. Fresh greens are from Dolce Vita Farms in Eastover.

Christmas at our house

Are you ready? Cookies baked, gifts wrapped, halls decked out?

We’re hosting this year—six houseguests and sixteen people for Christmas Eve dinner. My husband has a large family, and it’s our turn. Family will arrive from Tennessee and North Carolina (the Georgia crew is taking their granddaughters to the West Coast this year). Everyone brings food, thankfully.

We’ll gather on Christmas Eve for dinner before church, and on Christmas Day we’ll all head to our cousin Susie’s house to open gifts and eat some more. After that, my sister and her husband will come for a couple of days—a brief trip from Williamsburg to extend the celebration. And for New Year’s Eve, one of my bridesmaids, who recently retired from Minneapolis to Bluffton, will join us so we can ring in the new year together.

The gift of the off season

I try to make the most of the “off season.” Catching up with friends and family. Enjoying the stillness of long winter nights. Resting.

When the flowers are blooming, we’re heads-down at the farm. The crew is wonderful, and we work hard and efficiently. There are weeks when I only see the farm workers, my husband, and our customers. I feel incredibly blessed to do this work—but it can be isolating. Winter is when I intentionally reconnect, filling the cup that gets poured out all season long.

Seasonality, in every sense

So I’ll be somewhat unavailable over the next couple of weeks. I’ll check messages intermittently, but responses may be slower while we celebrate. Just another rhythm of seasonality.

What comes next

Of course, it won’t be long before I start missing everything about growing flowers. In January, we’ll begin starting seeds indoors, watching those first seedlings push free from their shells. Outside, we’ll cover and uncover beds as the weather demands, and if we get a warm January spell (which sometimes happens), we’ll sow more seed outdoors. By February, we’ll have blooms again—and I’ll feel the absolute joy of that miracle.

With gratitude

Thank you, truly, for supporting our farm through another year of this risky way of making a living. One flower farmer I know calls it “sweaty gambling,” and that feels about right. We’re at the mercy of weather, timing, and luck—but we’re also buoyed by your support when things go right and beautiful things come out of the ground as planned.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope this season gives you a moment of rest, too.

With gratitude,
Linda