Family, faith, & farm with Jill Warner
An invitation to Thursday's live discussion!
After our chat, a link to its recording will be archived below!
My favorite part of hosting so many online gatherings over these past several years has been delighting in all the connections that happen - with both the guest speakers and the attendees. And I don’t think these connections stay confined to that virtual hour mediated by a screen…for me, and for so many of you, I find that it’s a time of refreshment and inspiration that we take with us into our own various lives. This is my hope and prayer, anyway!
For our first gathering of 2026, I’m over the moon to get to host one of the friends I’ve met through these online gatherings: Jill Morrison Warner, a pastor & farmer whose Christmas tree farm goes back generations!
So, as we enter into this wintry time between Epiphany and Candlemas - still fragrant with Christmastide greenery, whether it’s staying up till February or has been taken down - let’s come together to chat with Jill about the intersection of faith, farming, and family…all through the lens of her idyllic Christmas tree farm.
“We are third generation Christmas tree farmers, and will be selling trees from our farm sometime in the next few years. My parents are a mile down the road from us, and planted their first trees in 1981. My maternal grandparents had a Christmas tree farm in northeast Ohio. Also, my uncle has a tree farm in Pennsylvania and my sister is growing Christmas trees in West Virginia. We helped out on my grandparent’s farm until my parent’s trees were big enough to sell, then our Decembers were devoted to selling trees at home. It takes about 8-10 years from when seedlings are planted until they are ready to harvest. In between comes much mowing, pruning, and pest control. I also started making wreaths as an FFA project in high school. A couple years ago I decided to try holding wreath classes, where people could come make and decorate their own wreaths, and that has been a fun and successful project (and tiring!).
“We live on the family farm that had belonged to my paternal grandparents. We built a house here when my grandma was living in the farmhouse and our kids were in preschool. Since then we have purchased the rest of the acreage. My Dad raises grass fed beef cattle and puts up hay, which we help him with. Our kids take market hogs for 4-H, which keeps us busy in the spring and summer.”
Jill is a pastor and farmer, who lives with her family in rural Ohio. We’ll chat about Christmas tree farming and farming with family, ministry, and the beauty that comes from growing roots in places that others may overlook.
