April Newsletter
Burr Oak acorns recently sprouted to produce saplings in their glass vases at Mill Ridge’s office.
Trees!
We celebrated Earth Day this week, which is serendipitous to my desire to share with you my deep love of trees.
I don’t know if it’s a natural evolution of curiosity as we age—video games in my youth, horses through middle and high school, travel in college, marriage in my thirties—and now, in my forties: trees and birds. It’s not that one interest replaced another (though my video game enthusiasm has definitely been picked up by our son, George). It feels more like an expansion—each chapter adding layers to how I see the world. And right now, I’m deeply enamored with trees.
I can trace part of this fascination back to Chris Stapleton, when he fronted The Steeldrivers and played monthly at the Station Inn in the early 2000s. Before their first album dropped, they’d try out songs in those intimate shows. One night, he introduced Sticks That Make Thunder by sharing this story:
“The other night I was driving down Franklin Pike to meet up with Mike (Henderson) to write some songs. I get stopped at the light near the site of the Battle of Franklin, and I look over to see these massive oak trees. They tower over the landscape—must be hundreds of years old. My mind starts to wander… What did those trees witness in 1864 during the battle? I get to Mike’s house, walk into the kitchen, and he greets me with: ‘Hey, I’ve been wanting to write a song about a tree.’ So I told him what I’d just been thinking about… and this is the song.”
Chris's words planted a seed. I began dreaming about trees—imagining what they’ve seen, what they will see. At Mill Ridge, we’re lucky to be surrounded by hundreds of trees, some over 400 years old. These elders of the land stir up deep wonder. They’ve stood through the centuries—witnessing buffalo migrations, Native American hunting parties, early Kentucky settlers. They’ve offered acorns, walnuts, and shade to generations of passersby. And now, they offer me awe and a sense of connection.
Along this journey, I met Robert Pocorny. My dad was sharing our love of trees—how, guided by landscape architect Horst Schach (who helped design the farm with my grandmother), we plant over 60 trees each year. Robert’s partner overheard and insisted we meet. It turns out Robert isn’t just a tree lover—he’s a tree storyteller. He collects acorns from ancient Bluegrass trees: the Schoolhouse Oak that Lexington lost in the 2023 severe wind storm, the Veterans Park Oak, the Brannon Farm Oak… and grows their children from seed, planting them across the region. Today, we’re lucky to have about 15 of these descendants rooted in our soil.
Last fall, I noticed one of the very first trees we planted had produced its own acorns—18 Burr Oak acorns, to be exact. In October, I harvested them. After a few YouTube tutorials, I cold-stratified them in our refrigerator.
While the acorns rested, I reached out to Ilex Studio, the makers of the beautiful Acorn Vase. I’d first seen one in a Cambridge gift shop and was immediately struck by its elegance. Believing—perhaps blindly—that our acorns would grow, we applied to become retailers of the vase and had 48 shipped to the farm that are now available for sale in our shop.
By February, I was certain I’d messed up the stratification process. Still, I tried germinating the acorns… and to my surprise, they began to grow—tiny taproots reaching downward.
Now, we have 11 little oak saplings in the office, each sprouting in its own vase. Like foals from the same mare, they share the same lineage but each has its own personality—its own dream. They've brought me immense joy, and I believe they will do the same for you.
If you have questions or would like to learn more, please reach out. I’ll close with a passage from the Ilex Acorn Vase guide, which might be the most beautiful instruction manual I’ve ever read:
“The Oak Tree is a byword for all that is robust, long-living and steadfast in the face of change. It is the essence of what it means to be English.”
(Or American, in my case.)
Sincerely,
Price
If you’d like to purchase an Acorn Vase, they are available for purchase in our shop:
We hope to harvest more acorns this fall and will have them ready to fill your vase by next spring!
