Yes, winter is coming. The official winter solstice begins for us this Friday, December 21, 5:23 P.M. EST. According to the 2018 Farmers’ Almanac, this winter is expected to be a bit more “normal” regarding temperatures with above-normal precipitation in the form of rain, not snow.

Here at Hattie’s Garden, we are getting geared up for our big Christmas Pickup/Delivery service for this Saturday, December 22, and have a few new items to tell you about, as well as some ideas for Christmas or holiday gifts. First, there’s some schedule changes to let you know about.

Holiday Schedule

After this week, we will be modifying our schedule by skipping one week.

• Saturday, December 22 — Normal Pickup / Delivery Service.
• Saturday, December 29 — NO SERVICE.
• Saturday, January 5 — Normal Pickup / Delivery Service resumes.

What’s Available This Week & Gift Ideas

We’ve got a variety of produce and other authentic food from local farmers & vendors, and some nice ideas for buying great locally-made products for the holidays which you can order now through Wednesday, December 19 at noon.

First, we are thrilled that Jen’s pies are back! A dessert pie is a great gift for a Christmas dinner you have been invited to, or might work just as well on your very own Christmas dinner table! And, of course, Jen’s savory pot pies are the perfect item for any meal.

Backyard Jams and Jellies has a new Autumn Chutney to die for! It is an incredible combination of raspberries, cranberries, pears and quince. The quince are from the gardens at Winterthur!

It would be a perfect jam for Christmas morning or to use on Baked Brie. Also new to the line-up is persimmon. We are offering Persimmon Jam, Persimmon Hot Pepper Jelly and Persimmon Chutney. All of Backyard’s jams and jellies, sold in 8 oz. glass jars, are perfect small gifts and make great stocking stuffers.

Hattie’s Garden is harvesting baby carrots this week. These small, absolutely delicious gourmet carrots come a dozen to a bunch and thanks to the cold nights, are as sweet a carrot as I have ever had! We are also offering Hattie’s Garden Gift Certificates which do not expire. They can be used at any time during the year for anything we sell during our off-season service, and for Hattie’s Garden produce, plants and flowers during the growing season. If you’re interested, please contact Hattie directly via email.

Chapel’s Country Creamery hand-made cheese is perfect for any party, as a gift, or displayed on your own table. We are especially enjoying the unique, subtly sweet and nutty alpine-style Woodbine — just reduced by $1. Woodbine melts well and makes a wonderful gourmet grill cheese sandwich! Try their other varieties — you can’t go wrong with any of their beautiful artisan cheese.

Plant Wisdom Within has an amazing line of herbal products that make absolutely superb gifts. All the products are made with great care and great ingredients (organic, wild-crafted, sustainably sourced).

Don’t forget your farm-fresh eggs from Twin Post Farms. Holidays seem to require lots and lots of eggs for baking, and for those slow, enjoyable holiday breakfasts.

Good fish is so hard to find and we know you will thoroughly enjoy Alaskawild flash frozen Coho and Sockeye Salmon, and also their Pacific or Alaskan Cod, and Pacific Rockfish or Rock Cod.

Totem Farms microgreens are easy and pack a lot of nutrition and flavor. Fresh Harvest has plenty of butterhead lettuce and a good variety of microgreens. And Chesapeake Organic has an impressive list of produce given the difficult growing season we all had in 2018.

Rounding off the list of sumptuous items includes the wonderful assortment of Portobella, Crimini, Shiitake mushrooms from Davidson Exotic Mushrooms and delicious prepared food from Patty’s Gourmet.

Remember the deadline for ordering is Wednesday at noon. Unfortunately, we won’t normally be able to take late requests, as we must place vendor orders quickly.

You will receive an updated reminder on Tuesday, but please order early to be sure you get everything you would like. Supplies are sometimes limited.

Enjoy and thanks for shopping with us.

Yours in the garden throughout the winter,