During wreath workshop season, we make weekly runs to a tree farm where we have a standing order for freshly cut evergreens, all the good-smelling stuff.

A couple of days before each workshop, Steve and I load up the truck, haul everything back, and I spend the next day or two processing the greens so they’re ready for our students.

(By “processing,” I mean cutting the branches to size, trimming ends, and generally pretending I’m in a Hallmark movie montage.)

But before that first big pickup, I needed just a small amount of greens to prep samples for photos of our preorder wreaths and door swags.

I had a very specific design in mind this year, so I went foraging.

Luckily, our back border is lined with cedar and cypress trees that our neighbor planted years ago, plenty to start with.

Then, around the corner, my friend Erin (fellow flower farmer and all-around powerhouse) lets me harvest whatever I want from her property.

Erin’s farm is in Pennsylvania, called The No Name Farm (isn’t that adorable?).

She lives there full-time, works acres of land by herself, and somehow manages to make it all look easy.

She puts me to shame (especially as we’re in a similar age bracket).

Anyway, I digress.

Our last stop was the street side of Laura and Wendy’s neighbor, Burt.

His property has a lot of overgrown pines, and honestly, he’d never notice if a branch or two went missing.

We were mid-snip when Wendy’s mom, Diane, came out, arms crossed and looking suspicious (we were right next to her driveway).

Luckily, she recognized me before she called the police and instead waved us over, offering her holly branches to use.

And as we’re chatting away, a young man slowed his car to a crawl, rolled down his window, and said,
“Excuse me… are you stealing Christmas?”

I nearly dropped my pruners.

He laughed and said he was just kidding, then asked if we needed help loading the branches.

What a nice guy.

(Only in Cape May would you get accused of a holiday heist and offered a hand in the same breath.)

When it comes to wreath season, you never know if you’ll end up with a truck full of evergreens or a new story to laugh about while you’re sipping prosecco and wiring up your masterpiece at one of our workshops.

If you haven’t signed up yet, there are plenty of dates and times to fit your holiday schedule.

Bring a friend, bring your mom, bring that neighbor whose holly tree you’ve been eyeing… and come make something beautiful (and totally legal).

Farm Happenings

Well, I did it again.

Apparently, I’ve reached that age where my coordination and common sense don’t always show up to work at the same time.

Stupid me, I left a crate full of freshly harvested gomphrena (which I was planning to use for our preorder wreaths) right in the middle of the studio floor.

In my rush to close up for the night, I completely forgot about it.

One quick turn toward the door and — boom — down I went.

I managed to bang both knees and my chest bone (right in the center, thank you very much) on the side of a plastic step stool.

Nothing broken, just a generous helping of chest soreness when I bend … made worse by the fact that nearly everything I do involves bending.

Note to self: don’t leave anything directly in the middle of a walkway. Especially not a crate-sized tripping hazard. 🙄

Steve, bless his sense of humor (and I use that term loosely), suggested I get one of those “Help! I’ve fallen and can’t get up!” buttons.

You remember that commercial?

No thanks, I’ll pass on the necklace of shame, thank you very much.

Thankfully, the gomphrena survived the crash and will still make its way into our fresh winter wreaths and door swags pre orders, which, by the way, will open tomorrow for both farm pick-up and shipping.

Remember, always watch your step, especially when there’s a crate full of gomphrena involved. Thankfully, the flowers bounced back faster than I did — but that’s wreath season for you.