Christmas Farmers Market

This week there is a special Sunday-morning Christmas Farmers Market. A few of the normal stalls weren’t able to make it, but they have been replaced by temporary stall-holders, so expect to see some different faces and products in the precinct. These include Strata foods, selling all sorts of flavoured vinegars and oils, Dawg’s Biscuits, which makes additive-free doggie treats, Lewes Fair Trade, selling products favouring marginalised growers and workers, and Stems, a Hove-based florist.

Stems will be selling Christmas wreaths, amongst other things. “They are all locally gathered using natural materials gathered from the wild,” says stallholder Jo. They have a foam base, so candles and flowers can be inserted, and they can be laid flat on a table as well as vertically on a door. “You don’t see so many Christmas door wreaths as you used to in cities,” she continues, “because they tend to get nicked. But in smaller places like Lewes and Ditchling they remain popular. I think they really help people get into the Christmas spirit.” We checked out the origin of door wreaths, and were not surprised to find that it was pagan. They date back to the Scandinavian celebration of Yule: wreaths were hung up to celebrate the New Year. The circle represents the repetition of the seasons, and the fact that nature has no beginning and no end; everything in its time comes back to its point of origin. Happy Yuletide. AG