FARM BUSINESS PROFILE: Holiday Memories Farm

December 18, 2017

This month’s agricultural business profile features Holiday Memories Farm. We spoke with Kelcie Palmer and her sister Ashleigh Palmer. The farm is located on 23 acres in West River.

Q1: Tell me about your business and the history of its establishment.

Kelcie: The farm was purchased in December 2014 and April 2015 was the first Christmas tree planting – we are a cut your-own Christmas tree farm. We looked at other farms to purchase but none of them felt right; we all fell in love with it here. You don’t need a lot of land to plant trees so this farm was absolutely perfect.

Growing up we always went to a farm to cut our Christmas tree. We have so many memories and photos of our family choosing and cutting our tree each year. So, we wanted to be able to offer those memories to others. My dad has wanted this for a long time; he doesn’t set a goal and not accomplish it. He has more motivation and energy than a 22-year-old; he is the definition of a hard worker.

Q2: Talk about some of your experiences as you set up your business.

Kelcie: Every April since 2015, we’ve planted trees. We are currently at max capacity, about 8,000 trees, so every April from now on we will back fill. We staggered the plantings each year so we don’t have a season where we are out of trees. My dad has it planned out to a science- how many trees we will need each year to make up for those that might die.

We have a machine specifically for Christmas tree planting; my Dad and Zeke, my brother in law, usually plant the trees. Nick, our Field Operations Manager, follows behind to make sure the trees go in the ground correctly and at the right distance from the last. If it doesn’t, he will grab another volunteer and they will work to fix the planting accordingly.

We have so many people that help us with the planting of the trees; all volunteers. The majority of the help is family and friends that have become family. It is truly a family event; we all support each other.

Then came the chickens- they were a brand new concept to me and I was not that interested. We had the chickens for about a year when we had a few that hatched outside. My Dad brought them in to me to take care of. I became so attached to them and have learned so much about chickens. I went from knowing nothing to learning so much because I absolutely love it. I am still continuing to learn more every day; it is always a learning experience with chickens.

Q3: Tell us a little about your farm stand?

Kelcie: My dad had a conversation with someone in the community who asked what the name of the farm was. When my dad replied “Holiday Memories Farm”, he automatically knew we were a Christmas tree farm but suggested making other ways for people to make memories so you have consistency throughout the year. So my dad decided to grow sunflowers. What it stands for, what it means was all very attractive… it means happiness. This past year we had such a great turn out with the sunflowers. We planted roughly 7,000 and people would stop by randomly to purchase the sunflowers- they were such an attraction. So, we decided to open the roadside stand on Sundays and deem the days “Sunflower Sundays”. We also grew zinnias in the high tunnel and the upper field. They were an ombre of purple and pink and they complemented the sunflowers so well. The first weekend we were open, we had a phenomenal turn out and received such great feedback.

Ashleigh: We started to get weekly customers who were looking forward to purchasing the sunflowers. We also grew tomatoes and peppers that we made available on the stand. We were still growing the tomatoes in the high tunnel until about a week ago.

Kelcie: Shannon, our sister, is strictly involved in floral design and farm cart. She is our Creative Designer and the one who gives the final “ok” for floral decisions, arrangements, floral plantings, etc. She put together our farm cart for our Sunflower Sunday with assistance from a volunteer, Linda.

Do you do agriculture Full-Time?

Ashleigh: I have been down here almost every single day for the past few weeks and am becoming more and more involved. There is so much to do and so much to learn. I am looking into how I can change my career path to involve farming.

Kelcie: I worked full-time for a phenomenal advisor in Annapolis. I was becoming more and more involved with the farm and started to become distracted because I had such a passion for the farm. Respectfully, we parted ways. I also get to take photographs and engage with the community. I’m able to do photography full time along with the farm work so it’s really the best of both worlds for me.

Q4: Walk us through a day on the farm?

Kelcie: So during the week, around 6am, my dad checks on the chickens. He checks their feed and water. He also makes sure everything is good with the plants in the high-tunnels. He will also take care of whatever needs to be done at that point in time; his newest project is building a new chicken coop. As for me, I am inside looking into different ways to market and engage with our community. I love everything about farming and agriculture and I want to learn more.

Q5: What advice would you offer business owners in similar situations?

Kelcie: Engage in every workshop and webinar that relates to your interests and what you want your farm to grow into. I’ve done webinars geared towards women in agriculture and chickens. My dad takes classes and workshops for just about everything that relates to our farm. Utilize your resources- there is more out there than most people realize. If it’s something you aren’t familiar with, don’t be scared to engage just dabble in it until you are comfortable.

Ashleigh: There are a lot of different organizations that you can join, Farm Bureau, Young Farmers etc. And the connections you make are invaluable.

Q6: If you could go back and do one thing over, what would it be?

Kelcie & Ashleigh: Without a doubt, we would have gotten more involved sooner. Fortunately, only 5 years have gone by since the farm started- but I wonder how far along I would be now if I had engaged sooner.

Visit Holiday Memories Farm Facebook page.

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