The Decorations Are Up!

I can’t believe it, but our daughter beat us this year by getting her Christmas tree up and decorated before we did. We have always had this tradition of going out the Friday after Thanksgiving to get our trees. In the “old” days in Nevada County, you could go up into the high country and cut trees on property that was owned by people you knew. And where you got permission. Some years later, our neighbor started a Christmas Tree farm, so we would go cut a tree and have it home and up within an hour after cutting it down. Our very first tree in the home we built in 1977, a friend of ours gave us a 20 + foot tree for our entryway. It is still the most vivid memory I have of that Christmas as that tree was so spectacular. The entry had 25’ ceilings and we had clear story windows above and on each side of the front door, so you could see that tree about a mile away with the lights on as you drove up to our house. Frank had heavy wires all over it tying it down to the back wall so it wouldn’t fall down. It even came with a mouse, that later came out from the bottom of the tree while we were having dinner. It was so big, it could have had a bear in it and we would not have seen it!!! Just kidding.
This year, Frank built me some Outdoor Christmas decorations that follow the theme of re-use, re-cycle. The stocking, tree and ornament decoration is made from old corrugated metal left over from the siding on the shop. Frank cut out the shapes, I painted and decorated them and our son-in-law Chris and Frank mounted them to our old railroad cart out front. I think they turned out pretty cute!
I have decorated a 3’ Christmas tree in my office where I am a lot of the time during the winter months; I do a great deal of farm business, planning, record keeping on the computer. I decided to do my tree simple and natural. I cut up pieces of burlap and tied them on the tree limbs. I had some French writing on a ribbon that I used to swag around and also put pine cones and faux birds on the limbs. My favorite is a swag of white buttons attached on a long wire and it has words on old fashioned labels saying “BELIEVE” that I purchased from my friend Mary Lake Thompson who has a fabulous shop in Oroville.
The Harvest CSA Baskets went very well, they were filled with shelled walnuts, two types of persimmons, pomegranates, applies, kiwis, dried apricots, egg plant, the last of the peppers, Indian corn, free range eggs and a fresh bouquet of flowers and herbs. I thank all my wonderful CSA members for a year of support for this small farm.

Farmers don’t ever stop thinking about farming even though the weather stops us from going outside. It is one of my favorite times because I keep records of the seeds, planting times and yields, during the summer and now is the time I organize them, writing down the successes and failures. Then after the 1st of the year, I make my lists of plant types and get my seed orders ready to fax into the seed companies. It is also a great time to look at the 2010 pictures I took of the farm to remember just how great the gardens looked, especially after a good weeding and mulching when the rows look so perfect.
Yes, it is the season to be hopeful, thankful and appreciative for all things wonderful like Family, Friends, Faith and Farming.
Merry Christmas from Frank, Bella, Annie, Piper and I at Windmill Farm to you.

Happy Holidays,