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kissing balls

Home for the Holidays Calls for Local Decorations

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Scotch Ridge Berry and Tree Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

By Emily Meagher

The cold, dark month of December calls for bright, warm decorations to make all that time spent indoors cozier and more enjoyable. At the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, local farmers and artists bring Christmas greenery and other seasonal decorations that you can cherish through the winter season.

If you celebrate Christmas, Scotch Ridge Berry and Tree Farm should be your first stop at the market. Charles Holub sets up outside the Wilton Mall and has tabletop trees, wreaths, kissing balls, and door swags available every Saturday through December 18. Their Norwegian and blue spruces, noble fir, and white pine varieties are naturally grown at their farm in Duanesburg.

Lovin’ Mama Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

For a less traditional wreath, Lovin’ Mama Farm offers ones made from dried flowers they grow on their land. “We plant rows of flowers interspersed between our veggies for diversity and pollinator habitat and bring fresh bouquets to summer markets and our handmade dried wreaths during the holidays,” says owner Corinne Hansch.

Feathered Antler, photo by Pattie Garrett

To brighten up any room, stop by Feathered Antler’s stand. Gretchen’s colorfully painted items include wooden ornaments to go in your tree, cards and stockings you can display on your mantle, and decorative throw pillows for on your sofa. Or grab a painted plant pot and add a poinsettia plant from J. Adkins Cultivation.

Saratoga Suds ‘n’ Stuff, photo by Pattie Garrett

Lastly, add some smaller items to spruce up your home during the holiday season. Ballston Lake Apiaries makes candles from their beeswax in shapes like bears and Faberge eggs. Gather around their warm light on a dark night. Saratoga Suds ‘n’ Stuff’s holiday soaps, including snowflakes, gingerbread men, and many more options, will add some holiday cheer to your bathroom.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market offers three more opportunities to shop local before Christmas: on Saturday, December 11th and 18th, markets will run as usual. On Wednesday, December 22nd, a special market will run from 1:30 pm until 5:30 pm for a last-minute grocery and gift shop.

This week’s recipe: Peak-of-the-Season Salad with Walnut Oil Vinaigrette

Holiday Wreaths Complete the Circle of Farmer’s Season

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

For Charles Holub, of Scotch Ridge Trees & Berries, diversity is “the lifeblood of a small farm.” His farm in Duanesburg is a case in point.

Scotch Ridge starts its season with the Saratoga Farmers’ Market selling seedlings started in its greenhouses for spring gardens. As spring shifts toward summer, cartons of berries, tomatoes, and bouquets of cut flowers become the primary crops. Summer folds into fall and then winter, and as December arrives, trees and handmade wreaths, door swags, and kissing balls make their appearance.

Holub was busy making wreaths last week in his workshop, a shed that serves as an entry point for berry pickers in the summer and cut-your-own tree visitors on weekends in December. An ice-coated pond and piles of greenery surrounded the shed. Inside, the spicy scents of Douglas fir, Scotch pine, white pine, blue spruce, and Frasier fir, a propane heater and soft stereo music system created a festive environment.

“My grandson was here last weekend,” Holub said. “He called it the Christmas place.”

Photo courtesy of Pattie Garret

Holub starts his wreaths with a handful of branches trimmed to size. He mixes varieties of greenery to achieve a diversity of color, texture, and smell and crimps them onto a frame, handful by handful. He adds sprigs of laurel and holly, and cones, ribbons, and continues to crimp until the circle is complete. All of the natural materials are gathered from his land or from the farms and yards of friends and family.

Holub grew up on the land he farms. The eldest of five children, he enjoyed a 35-year engineering career with New York State and retired at age 55. A few years before retirement, he began planning Scotch Ridge Farm. He planted his first trees around 1991 and began bringing them to market about 10 to 12 years later. Seedlings, berries, tomatoes and cut flowers followed as the operation grew.

Now, he plants about 1,000 trees a year. The trees take about 12 to 15 years to mature, and in the busy weeks of December, he makes about 30 wreaths a week.

“Farming is a risky venture,” he says, “Yet, there’s a great satisfaction in growing things and having success.”

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in Saratoga Spa State Park. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.