FOOD FOR THE SOUL

We talk about food for the body most of the year around here. With this being the last newsletter of 2021 we thought we’d talk about something less temporal.

There’s something about Christmas that seems to drive our emotions. For some it truly is the most wonderful time of the year, and on the other end of the spectrum it can open deep wounds. While we hope and pray it’s wonderful for all of you, we can’t ignore that’s not always the case. So this part of our newsletter is dedicated to equipping you to deal with all aspects of the holiday season.

Dave Ramsey offers 13 great tips to reduce holiday stress in this great ARTICLE. The section about focusing on CONNECTIONS with others is superb.

Be sure to watch the 5 min video at the start of this slide show produced by IN HEALTH. Some of these recommendations mirror Ramsey’s.

In this list MAYO CLINIC wisely starts with acknowledging sadness and /or loss you may have experienced. The suggestions for breathers are great.

HUFFINGTON POST identifies things that can trigger anxiety and depressing during the holidays including trying to do too much.

Lastly (falling under the category of taking a breather!) a book recommendation by one of your Market Manager’s favorite authors, Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth behind the Birth of Christ by Timothy J Keller. THIS PAGE contains some excerpts.

GROWER & MARKET NOTES

This is our last order cycle for 2021

Pickup for this week’s order is Friday, Dec. 17. WE WILL BE CLOSED DEC 18 – JANUARY 8, 2022 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

AVALON FARMS: We have made our escape to a mountain hideaway near Chattanooga. No worries, we’ll be back Tuesday in time to receive our onion transplant shipment. Those will be the next project.

Before leaving, the garlic beds were made and amended with: bone meal, alfalfa pellets and processed chicken litter fertilizer. Each little clove was tucked in for Winter. They will send up green shoots in a week or so, but don’t worry they can take our mild Winters with no damage.

There are 2 varieties of spinach growing. I’m hoping they will be available first of the year. For fun I planted a red stemmed variety in addition to the standard green. It worried me the other day, I thought they were turning brown! It was just the red color starting to develop in the stems. Silly farmer : )

Have a wonderful holiday! Safe, warm and dry. Grace and Peace to us all!
Wendy
Avalon Farms

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ NEW & RELISTED Satsumas – Avalon Farms ~ Cabbage – Avalon Farms Broccoli – Avalon Farms ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~