A few days ago, I came across a photo that my friend Gigi had posted to her Facebook page. The image was of a Christmas wreath, decorated with dozens of painted glass fruit and vegetable ornaments. I found the fresh, edible botanicals theme so whimsical and unusual that I wanted to know how Gigi had come to have this assortment. “Can we talk?” I messaged her. “And can I share this in my garden column?” She said, “Sure!”
I learned that the first set of ornaments in Gigi’s collection — an apple, a bunch of grapes, a pear, and a banana — originally belonged to her grandmother. “After she passed away,” Gigi said, “I chose them from her estate because they evoked many warm memories of holiday times in her home.”
“Since these were my grandmother’s,” she explained, “they probably date back to 1910 or so. But it’s possible that she got them from her own parents, who were from Germany. In which case, they could be even older than that.” The bright ornaments hung year after year on Gigi’s own family’s Christmas tree. More fruits were added over time, starting with Gigi’s mother, who gifted her daughter a lemon and a lime.
How did the ornaments migrate from a place on the annual holiday tree to a wreath made with artificial greens? “I adore ornaments,” Gigi explained. “So did my mother. She’d give an ornament to both my husband and me every year, as well as to each of our kids. The tree started getting really crowded and those beautiful fruits would simply get lost. On the wreath, which we hang in our dining room, these special ornaments get noticed and appreciated.”
The glass fruits and vegetables aren’t your typical holiday ornaments and Gigi said that she’s done a lot of hunting over the years to add to her collection. For instance, on a trip to England she found radish and artichoke ornaments. She returned from a trip to Hawaii with a pineapple and a kiwi fruit. In her grandparents’ state of Iowa, she found both an ear of corn and a peapod ornament. Seeking out unique additions seems to be half the fun. “I prefer to hunt for ornaments in shops,” Gigi told me. “Shopping online somehow feels like cheating,” she joked.
I asked Gigi if she had a favorite among her collection. She pointed to the larger of the two pomegranate slices. “I got that one in Granada, Spain,” she said, adding that the pomegranate is the symbol of the city, that the Spanish word “granada” translates to “pomegranate,” and that the pomegranate is featured on the country’s flag. Who knew?
Ornaments handed down from generation to generation, ornaments given as gifts or stumbled upon in little, local shops — wherever the ornaments have come from, there’s a lot of history and love in that one wreath.
One other thing: if you look closely, you’ll notice a tiny mouse sharing space with all the fruits and veggies. Little nibbly creatures are always trying to get into our gardens, so how true to life is that!
Note: Looking for a stocking stuffer? While browsing for ballpoint pens in Staples last week, I found a four-pack of BIC® Ecolutions pens. The pens write as well as any other BIC brand pen I’ve used; the difference is that the outer part of these pens is made with 78% plastic that the company describes as being “ocean-bound.” In other words, plastic that would bypass landfills and end up in the ocean. It’s a small thing, perhaps, but every bit helps—even just letting people know that a recycled pen option exists.
Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. Direct e-mail to pamelacbaxter@gmail.com, or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442. Pam’s new book, Listening to Nature’s Voice, is now available on Amazon. For more information or to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website: pamelabaxterbooks.com.
Source: Berkshire mont
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