December 13, 2020

Season's Greetings, dear friends!

As this weary year winds down, we are grateful beyond measure for all the love and support you've shown our small farm. As people hunker down in their homes, cooking more and baking bread and goodies, products like ours help spread joy in a tasty way.

Our mail order sales are higher than they've ever been, as are our wholesale orders (we only wholesale to nearby friends with small shops, bakeries or farmstands). Tiny Farmstand has been a busy beehive of activity in spite of our somewhat remote location.

Because the post office has been so swamped with packages this year, we are going to cut off our order deadline earlier than usual, and won't be taking orders after Tuesday, December 15. (Yesterday - Saturday- our unfortunate mail person was so overworked she didn't make it here until after 5:00 and picked up more than twenty boxes in the cold freezing rain (they were safely stored in the minivan)). We will resume mail order again January 1, 2021.

We're also going to close Tiny Farmstand for shopping on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Temperatures are supposed to dip to 10-12 and even though we have a small heater in there, I'm not sure it can handle keeping things safely warm.

If any local folks want anything, just send me an email (patti@cheshiregarden.com) and we can arrange a window of time for you to come and pick it up. (There's a lockbox on the wall to the right for cash and checks.)

And since really cold winter weather will be settling in by the solstice, we won't be baking Yuletide pies for sale this season.

There is exciting pie news on the horizon though! Watch for our January newsletter with pie plans, and a new website redo into a phone-friendly format.

In the gardens, the strawberries and garlic are sleeping peacefully under their blanket of straw (and snow) and everything has gone dormant (save for the kale and green onions I pick to enjoy with my eggs every morning.)

We've been busy in the kitchen every day, cooking to fill the orders that have been streaming in, and happily heating the house with simmering fruits.

Abbey is as happy as ever - especially since there's plenty of snow for making snow angels - and because there's a fox nearby giving her a reason to investigate his trails and activity. On Friday, her best friends Lisha and Lara came to mulch the berries and make wreaths to her great delight.

Ralph has been vigilantly feeding his bird friends, and every day we get to enjoy bluebirds, juncos, titmouses, nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, grosbeaks, four kinds of woodpeckers, and more.

Thanks to All, once again, for letting us live our dream of growing food and sharing it with you.

Sending out so much love, and light, and wishes for comfort and joy to you and your families and loved ones.

Please stay safe and be well.