Christmas Season at PepperHarrow

Country Christmas Charm

The rolling hills of the countryside covered with a layer of fresh snow and our cozy little cottage all decorated for the holidays really sets the stage for our dreamy holiday season. We decorated our little flower cottage for the holiday to show it off and to also use it as a backdrop for photographers who have come out to shoot sessions with their clients. The inside is heated and all white washed with bead board walls, so it provides a gorgeous, neutral backdrop for any photo session. Isn’t it adorable?!

The front doors of the cottage were decked out with custom, handmade wreaths from the farm, filled with gorgeous winterberry and accented with buffalo plaid. They looked so good! Several customers who came out to the farm and a handful of people online tried to buy them. Lol! Um, yeah…my heart just about burst with flattery. It was a very sweet compliment!

The next big project we worked on was a large greenery installation at Dreiberge Coffee for Laura Wills Photography. Laura lined this up with me about a month and a half ago with a crazy idea for a ‘cascading greenery garland wall’ for her holiday mini-sessions.

She sent me a couple conceptual pictures, told me she trusted me and off I went to figure out how the heck I was going to pull it off. Admittedly, the idea of hanging heavy greenery off of a wall worried me a little, but luckily I had a few ideas about what to do (might have consulted a support group) and also had the master of engineering, Adam, to help me out.

Shout out to my hubby: he’s always the one that figures out how to pull of most of my crazy ideas from a structural standpoint. He’s really good at building things, so this comes as second nature to him. I only get a little annoyed when he asks me for exact measurements. For this particular install, he asked and I told him that I was estimating 75’, but that I wasn’t totally sure. Guess what though…this thing ended up being almost exactly 75’. Boom!

Below is a picture, captured by Laura, of Adam and I working together to hang the garland. It was so heavy, it look to sets of hands to hold it into place.

Photo by: @laurawillsphotography

All 75’ of this garland was hand-tied and took about 6 hours to create. It’s highlighted with plumosa, and red cedar, with the base consisting of noble, Douglas fir, and white pine. Can it be more gorgeous?

Here’s the finished, stunning product, captured timelessly by Laura. How many times can I gasp when I see this picture?

Photo by @laurawillsphotography

Of course my family had to jump in on one of the mini-session slots. Cute, huh?!

Photo by @laurawillsphotography

The following weekend, we did a pop-up Christmas market on the farm with my mom, who made adorable hand-made crafts. We did a hot chocolate bar inside the flower cottage, all decked out with the treats for visitors. It was a huge hit!

I loved seeing a ton of familiar faces, and several new faces as well. Can it be any better than getting to hang out with you mom and make wreaths all day? It was wonderful. We are so grateful for the support.

The finale of our on-farm Christmas season? Wreath-making workshops on the farm with incredible attendees who always make us feel amazing and dazzle us with their wreath making talents.

We set the event space up with the greenery and all of the extra sparkles that makes the wreaths ‘pop’. We light a fire in the woodstove and Adam puts a kettle on top to boil out the smell of Douglas fir and eucalyptus in the water. It smelled just like Christmas.

We loved using words like zhuzh (yes, it’s a slang terms for fluff) repeatedly and also hearing an attendee tell us she was making a ‘Lizzo’ wreath pure gold highlights that still have us laughing!

Now we’re looking forward to some downtime spent with our family. Happy Holidays to all of you!

Finished wreath and photo by: @sarajhouse

Planting daffodils for a natural look

How we distill lavender on the farm

Jenn shows us how to make a pumpkin centerpiece.

Madison County Farm to Table Dinner 2019

Farm to Table Style

Our 3rd annual Madison County Farm to Table Dinner was recently held at the farm and it was a tremendous success! For those of your who don’t know about this event, each year, we invite an intimate gathering of people to take a seat at our harvest table to experience an amazing night of gorgeous local flowers and feasting on delicious locally grown food.

All photos by: Rylee Mapes Photography

We spent the evening enjoying amazing cuisine prepared by the lovely and incredibly talented duo, Brandy Lueders and John Cornish (and team), of The Grateful Chef

Brandy and John have been featured on The Iowa Ingredient, The Des Moines Register, Cityview, and dsm Magazine for their vibrant and healthy meal options. The more colorful, the better!

We often snag their ‘grab and go’ meals from the cooler or freezer at the store location in Des Moines on SE 6th. Not gonna lie, this is usually how our kids are fed throughout our busy flower growing time during the summer. It’s our go-to for guilt free, healthy ‘fast food’. Our kids lovingly refer to it as “Brandy Food”. Ha!

We started the evening with a quick social hour, which gave people time to get to know one another, take a look at the farm, the gorgeous scenery, and of course, the amazing flowers. It was surprising to us that several people already knew a little bit about the farm. We weren’t expecting that! There were a handful of people that were already familiar with our new lavender field. It made us feel so good that people care and are excited about what we’re up to. Thank you!

A 20’ branch from our nearby timberland was suspended and covered in gorgeous florals. Other florals were included around the space, bringing natural details from the outside, in, creating the illusion of being in a secret garden. The table was set with a program by K. Henri Design, which detailed out each of the courses. The table also adorned all of our best vintage china, and silverware, collected over time from family, friends and the not-so-occasional visits to local thrift stores. Flowers, candles, and small fall details flowed down the center of the table, giving the room a warm, inviting vibe, while Frank Sinatra crooned and romanced us the entire evening through our Spotify playlist. Magic. That’s the only way to describe the scene.

The Grateful Chef served up five amazing dishes, all curated with local produce from local farms. Many of the dishes were inspired by the fall harvest: full of zesty, flavorful, and warming dishes that created a homey, but stunning culinary experience.

The dessert course

Our favorite was the sage, gouda, apple pie, with a dollop of hand whipped cream on top! You could really pick up the gouda’s tangy flavor in the crust, but the sugary, cinnamon flavor of the filling balanced the flavor perfectly for a mouth watering experience. Yum, yum!

Shown right is the pie being plated. Each piece was plated on a bed of caramel drizzle and topped with hand whipped cream and a sprig of sage.

Understanding where our food comes from and how it’s grown is incredibly important. Not only is it important that we’re able to connect with our food source on this level, it’s also crucial to know and understand the people who all make it happen. At our farm to table dinner, we celebrate the local, hard working farmers who toil day in and day out to bring us the greatest gift: nourishment for our bodies. At this year’s dinner, we had three local farms take a seat at the table to talk with attendees about their farm, their families, and the product that they produce.

We want to recognize Decker 7- Jake and Ginnie Decker, Bridgewater Farm-Dale and Marcy, Rich and Scott from Buffalo Prairie and Hannah Davis and Austin Hill, our employees who attended and represented PepperHarrow. Having these hardworking folks sit and converse with attendees at the farm to table dinner added an authentic richness to the dinner that is almost impossible to put into words.

They are the heart of the farm to table and it was amazing to celebrate and recognize them for the amazing produce they provide each and every day!

Thank you to everyone who came to the farm to table dinner and experienced this magical evening with us. It’s all about the amazing food, fellowship, and festive atmosphere. If you’re looking to attend next year, be on the lookout! We hold this dinner the first Saturday of October each year and will post tickets online early Summer 2020!

-Jenn and Adam