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Find out what’s ripe and what’s bloomin’, get great farm recipes, stay up on our special events — from the Easter Bunny to old Santa Claus! We’ll even throw in a few coupons! Sign up now!
You can’t beat handmade Christmas ornaments. They’re a fun craft the whole family will enjoy and they can often be made with items lying around the house. This DIY ornament repurposes empty toilet paper tubes. Kind of fitting for 2020, no? Giggle.
You’ll need:
Empty toilet paper tubes
Paint
Paint brush
Ruler
Pencil
String
To make:
Paint outside of tube and allow to dry
Paint inside of tube and allow to dry
Using a ruler, draw a ½ inch thick around the middle of the tube.
On one side of the tube, cut equal strips (should wind up with eight) and cut those into triangles.
On the other side of the tube, do the same making sure strips are slightly off set.
Fold triangles towards middle of tube.
Tie string around middle of the tube.
Mom Tip: Lay down wax or parchment paper to save your table for little paint-covered hands.
Hang on the Christmas tree and enjoy!
Check out our blog for other crafts, recipes, and general farm fun!
Winters here in Tennessee can be chilly which makes the special ingredient in this hot cocoa so perfect! A touch of chili powder gives this traditional cold-weather beverage a bit of kick!
You’ll need:
2 ½ cups milk
½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon vanilla (pure or extract both work)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon chili powder
Pinch of nutmeg
Sugar to taste (optional)
To make:
Combine all ingredients into a saucepan and heat over medium heat until the chocolate is melted and nearly simmering. Stir frequently. Taste and add sugar, if necessary.
Follow us on Pinterest for more tasty treat ideas!
What better way to trim your farm-fresh Christmas tree than with homemade ornaments! Kids will enjoy seeing their fun creation hanging on the tree for years to come. Here’s a simple ornament made from common household ingredients!
You’ll need:
Dough
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 ½ cups warm water
Tools
Parchment paper
Rolling pin
Cookie cutters
Baking sheet
Decor
Forks, stamps, lace, or anything else to make a pattern
Straw or toothpick (to poke a hole to hang the ornament)
Baking sheet
Paint, glitter, etc.
Mod Podge or Polyurethane spray (for sealing/preserving)
Ribbon or twine for hanging ornament
To Make:
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl until well combined. Slowly stream in warm water while stirring. Keep stirring until all water has been added.
When it gets to a point where the dough is too thick to stir with a spoon, put it on a lightly floured surface and knead until it’s smooth and pliable.
Put the dough down on a sheet of parchment paper and cover with another sheet of parchment paper. Roll until about 1/8 “ thick (reduces likelihood of air pockets and future breakage).
Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and, keeping dough on top of the bottom layer of parchment paper, use cookie cutters to cut out ornament shapes.
Once all shapes have been cut, peel away all the excess dough, leaving shapes on the parchment paper. Use a straw or toothpick to poke a hole where the ornaments will hang. If you’re going to add texture elements to your ornaments, now’s the time to do it.
Move your ornaments and parchment paper onto a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for an hour. Allow to cool thoroughly before decorating.
After you’ve decorated your ornaments, paint with a layer of Mod Podge or spray with Polyurethane to preserve.
Visit us on Pinterest for more festive DIY ideas!
The holidays are a time for twinkling lights, the invigorating scent of farm-fresh Christmas trees, and a general sense of togetherness. One of our favorite ways to bring on the holiday coziness is to heat up some stove top pot-pourri!
You’ll need:
1 orange, sliced into rounds
1/4 cup fresh cranberries
tablespoon of whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 whole bay leaves
1 star anise pod
Put it all in a pot and cover with water. Turn the heat up until the mixture comes to a gentle boil and then turn it down to a simmer. Your whole house will smell of holiday cheer!
For more festive recipes, visit us on Pinterest.
‘Tis the season for roasting and one of our favorite roasted dishes is butternut squash. Try this easy recipe. It’s guaranteed to please everyone’s palate!
You’ll Need:
1 butternut squash (peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tbsps olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook It Up:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, add cubed squash, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly.
Arrange squash on a baking sheet and roast until tender and slightly browned, around 25 to 30 minutes.
That’s it! It really is one of the easiest fall side dishes.
Pick up your butternut squash right here at the farm and follow us on Pinterest for more great recipes!
What better way to celebrate fall than to take delight in it’s stunning blooms! The cool, crisp weather brings with it some of the most vibrant bouquets of the year.
Here at the farm, we offer a variety of flowers including zinnias, several varieties of celosia, gomphrena, hydrangeas, sunflowers, asparagus fern, gladiolas, and marigolds. With shades of crimson, gold, and bright orange, these flowers will make any space feel like fall.
Come on out to the farm and pick up a few bouquets! New to flower arranging? Visit our Pinterest page for inspiration!
Halloween is just around the corner! As parents, we’d love to find fun and creative costumes for our kids without spending a fortune. Try these WICKEDLY easy DIY Halloween costumes! They’re ADORABLE and won’t break the bank!
Scarecrow
You’ll need:
Jeans
Plaid shirt
Face paint
Fabric scraps cut into squares
Hot glue gun/glue or safety pins
Large piece of brown felt for DIY hat
To create:
Sew, glue, or safety pin fabric scraps to jeans and and felt hat. Fake sunflowers can be glued to hat if you’re feelin’ fancy. Paint seems and patches on your little one’s face and you’re done!
Bee
You’ll need:
Yellow shirt
Black pants/leggings
White felt, large enough for a pair of wings
Black felt, cut into wide strips
Hot glue gun/glue or safety pins
To create:
Pin or glue black strips to yellow shirt to create ‘bee body’. Using the white felt, cut out a pair of wings. Pin or glue wings to back of shirt. If you want a more girlie bee, you can add a black tutu to your ensemble!
Minion
You’ll need:
Yellow shirt
Denim overalls
Yellow beanie
Felt (white, black, and grey)
Hot glue gun/glue or safety pins
To create:
Using black felt, cut a strip long enough to wrap around the beanie and glue it to the beanie. Cut out a circle of white felt and another circle of grey felt, cutting out the center to make a frame. Cut out a smaller black circle to create the eyeball. Glue the grey felt frame to the white felt. Glue the black circle to the middle to complete the trademark minion goggle head!
Visit us on Pinterest for more fun DIY ideas!
Fall is the time for mums to show off their blooms! We offer several lovely colors to perfect for adding fall flair to your front porch. Here are a few tips for keeping your mums healthy throughout the season!
Water
Mums do well with continually moist (not soggy) soil. As long as they feel moist to the touch, you’re good to go.
Light
Unlike mums planted in a spring garden that need 6 hours of sunlight, fall potted mums need bright but indirect light. Keep them a few feet back from a south-facing window or anywhere in a bright location without direct sun. Mums begin to bloom in the fall when the nights are longer. To help them maintain their bloom cycle, keep plants away from street lamps (if outdoors) and close the curtains if they are near a window with bright lights outside.
Comfy Temperatures
Container mums like cooler temps, from 60 to 65 degrees, during the night. If you like to keep your home toasty at night, plants can be moved into a cooler space like a basement or garage. Be sure to move your outdoor potted mums indoors if an early frost is anticipated.
Pinching
Pinching the tips of mums to encourage bushy growth and blossoms is only necessary if you happen to have container mums during the summer before blooming begins. In that case, pinch off the tips of all new stems when they are 6 to 8 inches tall, but stop pinching by the end of June for fall blooming. If you plan to keep your mums only for the fall season, pinching isn’t necessary.
Come on out this fall and pick up some flowers and pumpkins for your seasonal decor!
It’s Fall and most of us are busting out our crockpots and casserole dishes to start serving up that cold-weather comfort food! Pumpkins aren’t just for pumpkin pie. You can make wonderful stews, souffle, curry, and more! Here are some great pumpkin varieties
Pumpkin Varieties
We’re going to bypass the big carving pumpkins (think Jack-O-Lanterns) all together as they are the worst pumpkins for cooking. Their meat is very stringy and their flavor is extremely bland. Instead, go for varieties that are sweet, uber flavorful, and have a smoother flesh. Look for pumpkins that are labeled as ‘sugar pumpkins’ or ‘pie pumpkins’. We grow several varieties of cooking pumpkins including Long Island Cheese, Cinderella, and Jarrahdale.
Pumpkin Size
The best cooking pumpkins should be between 4-8 pounds. Be sure to check for bruising or spots as this can be a sign of rot.
Storage
Keep your pumpkins longer by placing them in a cool temperature. When stored properly, pumpkins can last up to 90 days! You could be making pumpkin pies well past Christmas!
We look forward to seeing y’all here at the farm for loads of Fall fun!