From the Gardener’s Journal
The Gardener’s Letter No. 08
Dearest friend of the Hollow,
It rained again.
I know. I told you about our rainy U-Pick last week, and you're probably wondering whether I've run out of things to write about.
I assure you, I have not. South Carolina, however, appears to have developed a particular fondness for scheduling rain on Saturdays. And once again, I found myself wondering whether anyone would venture out to pick flowers. Luckily, someone did.
A family arrived with two of the sweetest children, and those children had questions. So many questions. And I absolutely loved it.
There is something wonderful about children who are genuinely curious about the world around them. They don't worry about whether their questions sound silly. They just want to know things.
I could have stood there talking with them all afternoon.
I even managed to get a photograph of our visitors, and I hope they know how much their visit meant to me. I cannot wait to see them again.
Two rainy Saturdays. Two families who decided the weather wasn't going to keep them away.
I'm beginning to think the Keeper has been trying to tell me something.
Perhaps the Hollow doesn't need perfect weather to be a beautiful place.
Perhaps it just needs the right people to wander through.
A Little Piece of Stars Hollow
Speaking of people finding their way to the farm, this weekend we're doing something a little different.
We're taking the farm to them.
On Saturday, October 24, Hickman Hollow Farms will be joining the Stars Hollow event at Jack's Books in downtown Florence.
Yes, that Stars Hollow.
The charming little town from Gilmore Girls, where everybody knows everybody, there's always something happening, and apparently no one has ever considered drinking less coffee.
Honestly, it sounds like my kind of place.
We weren't originally planning to participate. The opportunity came along at the last minute, and I found myself trying to figure out how to prepare for a vendor event with approximately five minutes of notice.
All right, perhaps it was a little more than five minutes.
But it certainly felt that way.
I don't have all the beautiful displays and professional signage I would eventually like to have. There are still things I wish I could order, make, or finish before Saturday.
But I decided… I'm going anyway.
We'll have fresh flower bouquets, dried bouquets, and a few of our botanical products. And while I certainly hope people find something lovely to take home, what I'm most excited about is meeting people.
I want to tell them about our farm.
I want them to know there's a little place outside Florence where they can wander through flowers, meet our animals, and spend an afternoon doing something that doesn't involve staring at a screen.
I want to tell them about the gardens we're building, the experiences we're dreaming up, and all the things we hope Hickman Hollow will become.
And maybe I'll meet someone who has never heard of us before.
Someone who will come visit next spring.
Someone who might eventually become one of those familiar faces I look forward to seeing at the garden gate.
That possibility makes all the last-minute scrambling worthwhile.
Besides, if there's one thing I've learned about farming, it's that waiting until everything is perfect means you may never get around to doing anything.
The Wrens, who have apparently appointed themselves supervisors of all Hollow business, would like to know whether I have finished preparing for Saturday.
I have informed them that their questions are not helping.
The Tractor Has Been Earning Its Keep
While I've been thinking about flowers and Stars Hollow, Jamie has been doing something considerably more practical.
He's been preparing the ground.
A couple of weeks ago, we got a new tractor, and I cannot begin to tell you what a difference it has made.
If you've ever tried to turn a big piece of old pasture into productive garden space, you know that the work can feel endless.
There is always another patch of ground to clear, another bed to prepare, another row to shape.
But we've made tremendous progress.
Our vegetable garden for next year is now tilled and the rows are made.
The new early spring flower garden is prepared too.
And our first crop going into that space?
Garlic.
Lots and lots of garlic.
Kira and I tackled all ten pounds of garlic heads, getting the cloves ready for planting.
I would like to report that this was a glamorous mother and daughter activity.
It was not.
But there is something rather satisfying about sitting together doing a job that needs to be done, knowing those little cloves will eventually become part of next year's harvest.
And I love that Kira is growing up learning these things alongside us.
One day, I hope she looks back on all the planting, digging, harvesting, and other questionable activities I've recruited her for and remembers them fondly.
Preferably before she starts telling people how much unpaid farm labor was involved.
Why We're Giving Spring Its Own Garden
I mentioned last week that we're creating a separate garden for our early spring flowers, and now that the ground is prepared, I'm getting even more excited about it.
This is one of those ideas that came directly from something I learned during our first growing season.
Tulips and daffodils are beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful.
But they bloom for a relatively short time, and then they leave behind a whole lot of foliage that needs to stay in place.
You see, when a spring bulb finishes flowering, it isn't finished working.
Those leaves are still collecting sunlight and helping the plant store energy for the following year.
Which is wonderful for the bulb.
Less wonderful when you're trying to maintain a beautiful summer flower field, and there are tired looking leaves taking up valuable growing space.
So we're making a change.
Next year, our early spring flowers that are grown from bulbs and need to have their leaves stay in place will have their own garden, separate from the main summer flower field.
We'll be able to enjoy those gorgeous early blooms, and once the flowers fade, their foliage can remain undisturbed while the rest of the garden transitions into vegetable production.
Meanwhile, the summer flower field can focus on doing what it does best.
Growing beautiful flowers for all of you.
I'm rather pleased with this plan.
Of course, I have been rather pleased with plenty of plans that the farm eventually taught me to reconsider.
But that's part of the adventure.
Over 400 Little Lavender Plants
Garlic isn't the only thing we're preparing for. Our lavender project is coming along too.
Jamie has already tilled the lavender field area, and we're planning one more pass before shaping the beds and covering them with landscape fabric.
The lavender plugs have arrived, but we’ve decided they will not be going into the ground right away. They are going to chill out over the winter in our greenhouse and will go in the ground in the early spring.
I know, I know, they should go in the ground in the fall…but this winter forecast is scaring me, and that’s a lot of plants to lose if it’s going to be as bad as they say it is. These little babies don’t have developed roots yet, so they really don’t stand a chance.
I keep imagining what it will look like when those hundreds of plants are mature and blooming.
The soft purple flowers.
The bees moving from bloom to bloom.
The grassy paths where people can wander.
And perhaps one day, a small wedding among the lavender.
I know I’ve talked about it before, but I can't help it. Some ideas settle into your heart and refuse to leave. Of course, before any of that happens, there's quite a bit of work to do.
Lavender needs excellent drainage, especially in our humid South Carolina climate, and we're trying to give those plants the best beginning we can.
The Keeper seems particularly fond of reminding me that beautiful places take time.
I suspect he would also approve of making sure the beds drain properly.
Even the Website Is Growing
There's one more thing happening behind the scenes that I haven't told you much about yet.
We're building a new website.
Our current website has served us well enough this first year, but I've never felt that it truly captures what Hickman Hollow feels like when you're here.
Our current website tells people a little about the farm.
But I want the next one to invite them into it.
I want someone visiting our website for the first time to get a little sense of the place before they ever drive through the gate.
The flowers, the gardens, the animals, the quiet corners.
The stories.
And perhaps just a hint that the Hollow has a few secrets of its own.
We're still in the early stages, but I'm hoping to have the new design ready before the end of the year.
I'm excited to show you what we're creating.
And don't worry.
The Wrens have already expressed interest in having their own section.
I have not agreed to anything.
One Last Day Among the Flowers
And now I have something very special and a little bittersweet to tell you.
This Saturday will officially be our final U-Pick of the 2026 flower season.
Those chilly nights have been taking their toll.
We still have quite a few beautiful zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, and eucalyptus, but our dahlias are struggling to stay upright, and the field is beginning to tell us that it's ready for a rest.
I had already been thinking about how we could make our final picking day special. With fewer flowers remaining, we planned to offer a big discount and invite everyone to enjoy whatever the field still had to give.
But this morning, something wonderful happened.
Our good friends at DM Farm Services reached out and offered to sponsor the entire day.
You might remember them as the folks who helped us repair our pond dam. They were part of an important chapter in getting this farm back into shape, and now they're helping us close out our very first flower season by giving something beautiful back to the community.
Because of their generosity, our final U-Pick will be completely free.
Every visitor can pick one flower cup at no charge, courtesy of DM Farm Services.
We'll open the field at 9 AM on Saturday, October 24, and continue until 4 PM or until the flowers are gone, whichever comes first.
We'll be offering flower cups only, with a limit of one cup per person.
No buckets this time.
Just one last opportunity to wander through the flowers and take a little piece of the Hollow home.
And to give the kids an extra opportunity to wear their costumes, any child in costume can trick-or-treat for some candy! Just find us with the Orange bucket and get your treat.
Jamie will be welcoming everyone at the farm in the morning while I'm downtown at Jack's Books for the Stars Hollow event.
I'll be back at the farm around 2 PM, and I would love to see you there if the flowers are still waiting for us.
I cannot think of a sweeter way to finish this first season.
And I am so grateful to DM Farm Services for making it possible.
The People Who Come Anyway
I've been thinking about those children asking questions in the rain.
About Kira helping me prepare garlic.
About Jamie working the new tractor through the fields.
About taking our bouquets downtown to meet people who may never have heard of Hickman Hollow.
And now, about a friend reaching out and offering to help us give away the last of our flowers.
A year ago, so much of this was still an idea.
Now we have flower fields that people have wandered through. Gardens that have fed our dreams. Animals that have become part of our daily lives. And people who have become part of our story.
I think that's what has surprised me most.
I knew I wanted to grow flowers, and I knew I wanted to build a beautiful farm. But I didn't fully understand how much joy there would be in sharing it with other people.
The families who come in the sunshine.
The families who come in the rain.
The children who ask a hundred questions.
The friends who lend a hand when you need it.
And the people who remind you that community is something we build together.
God has been so good to us through this first season. Not because everything has gone perfectly. Goodness knows it hasn't. But because He has given us so many beautiful things in the middle of all the imperfect moments.
And perhaps that is the lesson I want to carry into our next season.
You don't have to wait until everything is perfect to create something meaningful.
Sometimes you simply have to show up.
In the rain.
With muddy boots.
With flowers that aren't quite finished blooming.
With a vendor display you wish you'd had another week to prepare.
Or with an offer to help a neighbor share the last flowers of the season.
And trust that something good can grow from there.
Thank you for being part of our very first flower season.
Whether you picked flowers once, visited us every weekend, told a friend about the farm, or simply followed along as we built this little place, you've helped make Hickman Hollow what it is becoming.
The flower field may be getting ready to rest, but there are so many wonderful things still ahead.
Until we meet again,
