Back when we lived in Montclair, NJ, our kids were in elementary and middle school, and we lived in a big, old, three-story rambling house.

It was charming in that very pre-HGTV, pre-granite-countertops kind of way. The kind of house with creaky floors, uneven door frames, and — most impressively — a back staircase originally meant for servants. Very fancy. Very impractical.

The house was nearly 100 years old, and every year, a couple of weeks before Christmas, we threw a holiday party.

And when I say party, I mean everyone came.

Neighbors. Friends. Our kids’ friends. Kids everywhere.

Picture 20 children running full-speed through three floors of an ancient house, laughing, yelling, disappearing up staircases, and reappearing somewhere entirely unexpected.

And somehow… it worked.

The Secret Wasn’t the House

For me, the best part was that I didn’t have to cook a sit-down meal (you know how I feel about that).

Just finger food. Snacks. Things you could grab and keep moving.

For the kids?

Total freedom.

Their house. Their friends. No schedule. No structure.

To this day, my kids still talk about those parties.

That’s how you know they mattered.

Now fast forward to today.

We live in a much smaller home here in Cape May, NJ. Cozy. Efficient. Not exactly built for 40 people and a roaming pack of elementary schoolers.

For a while, I thought that chapter was simply over.

But lately, I’ve been thinking…

Maybe the magic wasn’t the house at all.

Maybe it was the gathering.

A Christmas in July at Our Cape May Flower Farm?

And then it hit me: we don’t have a big house anymore.

But we do have a flower farm.

Instead of focusing on what we lack indoors, what if I focused on what we have outdoors?

Long farmhouse tables set up between rows of seasonal flowers.

Neighbors and friends gathered under open summer skies.

Christmas music drifting across the fields.

Elf hats. Twinkle lights. A slightly ridiculous “Christmas in July” vibe.

Here at our Cape May NJ flower farm, there’s space to breathe. Space to connect. Space for community.

It’s surprisingly hard to truly get to know neighbors beyond the ones right next door. And I’d love to change that — especially for the folks who live right here on our road.

Maybe the setting doesn’t matter nearly as much as the intention.

Maybe it’s simply about opening the door. Or in this case, the farm gate.

So now I’m curious:

Do you throw holiday parties?

And if you live in a smaller house, how do you make it work without breaking the bank (or your sanity)?

A Quick Flower Farm Update: Cool-Season Flowers Are Growing

While I’m dreaming about summer gatherings among the blooms, real life at the farm is already moving full speed ahead.

Thousands of seeds I sowed in January are now tiny baby seedlings, happily growing away in our propagation space.

These are our cool-season flowers — hardy varieties that thrive in early spring conditions and reward us with some of the most beautiful seasonal blooms.

They’ll be planted out around Valentine’s Day, right here at our small family-run flower farm in Cape May.

If you’re one of our Cut Flower Seedling members, your seedlings will be sown right after these go out — very soon now, in early March.

This is one of my favorite times of year.

Winter planning turns into real action. December’s spreadsheets become February’s trays of green life.

And when the timing lines up the way it’s supposed to?

Oh, it’s deeply satisfying.

Here’s to the rest of seed-sowing season cooperating.

(And maybe to a Christmas tree in the middle of a flower field this July.)