Flowers are extraordinarily versatile. Fittingly presented during celebratory anniversaries and birthdays and shared as expressions of sympathy and condolences during periods of grief, they hold an ascribed symbolism. Quintessential red roses stand as bold purveyors of romantic love, cupped calla lilies embody purity and rebirth, and beaming sunflowers radiate delight. There is a language in flowers that humans inherently understand—even if we're unable to articulate a translation. They share our messages, evoke feelings, and sit atop their stems as beautiful and fleeting gifts from the earth that inevitably enrich our homes and our lives.
So it should come as no surprise that we adore sharing these natural gifts with our loved ones. Specifically, we gift CSA Flower Shares. For those unfamiliar with the CSA—Community Supported Agriculture—model, it is in essence a subscription service by which consumers buy "shares" of harvests from local farmers which grant them an allocated portion of the gathered goods. Often, farmers sell shares of produce and assemble weekly boxes full of the crops that are ripe and harvest-ready at that time. When the conditions nurture thriving plants, boxes reflect the abundance and when, droughts, storms, or swarms devastate the sweetly sewn seedlings, the boxed offerings are understandably sparse. Each CSA is an agreed relationship between the community and the farmers: a relationship that stands strong and supportive through sickness and health. By purchasing a farm share you, the consumer, are participating in the remarkable symbiosis of humankind and the land and you have an excuse to mingle with your local farmers and you're ultimately rewarded with boxes of Nature's bounties! Are you thinking it couldn't get any more enticing? What if we divulged that in addition to boxes of succulent local produce you could collect weekly bouquets of fresh field-picked flowers? In this moment we are so enchanted by our impassioned love of CSA flower shares that we want to abandon the writeup and dash off to our nearest flower farm to surround ourselves with enlivening petals!
For those of you in New England, the Little State Flower Company in Rhode Island is a must visit floral destination as it is as much a visionary art studio as it is a soiled filled flower field. With five acres dedicated to the most magnificent flowers we've seen, Little State offers weekly sensational bouquet showstoppers that are so truly wonderful that simply looking at them feels insufficient. If we could we would bathe in their effortless arrangements, we absolutely would.
The only negative we can find with Little State Flower Co. CSA is that upon entering the inconceivably adorable wooden street-side shed that holds the erupting bouquets, we are forced to choose which arrangement speaks to us most. As each bouquet boasts slight variations—an added dahlia here, a few fragrant springs of eucalyptus there, or a stunningly scented secret nicotinia blossom— we stand for an embarrassingly long time trying to translate their floral language and identify which is the perfect paper-wrapped petaled present. The answer is all of them; they're all absolutely perfect which is mind-numbingly difficult to accept when standing in a shed surrounded by a symphony of beauty. It's possible the selection struggle is something only we suffer from, but it's an experience we masochistically crave!
We cannot wait to wake up early on sun-soaked summer Saturdays and dash off to the farm and stand with utter stillness while we visually and olfactorily investigate every pink lipped folded peony, coralesque celosia crowns, spirey kiwi-seeded nigella and tendrilic bursting chrysanthemum in denial of the reality that we're in a shed literally full of perfection. Even now, we're not entirely convinced the magnificence of their photo-filled social media pages is physically possible. Just kidding, we absolutely acknowledge the filterlessness of their posts. Sort of...
With all that being said and all joking aside, these farmers are remarkable and their harvests leave us feeling privileged and a bit weak in the knees. We implore you to contact your local flower farms and inquire about giftable CSA shares. We cannot imagine a more enchanting gift than weekly spectacular floral surprises!
If you're looking for more gift ideas, be sure to explore out the full 2021 Holiday Gift Guide.
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