Piecing together how a photo of heirloom gourds became a puzzle

Pieced Together

This year’s hottest gift is a puzzle of colorful gourds photographed at The Farmer’s Daughter

By Elyse Major

You don’t need a green thumb to be smitten with The Farmer’s Daughter. For the uninitiated, this is no ordinary garden center but a wondrous place outfitted with inspiring displays sure to transform any unsuspecting visitor into a gardenista. Christine Chitnis is a longtime fan. The Providence-based writer and photographer is also the author of four books and a contributor to publications including the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, and Country Living. Each fall, Chitnis makes the 40-minute trek (hey, that’s far in Rhode Island) to visit the South Kingstown destination to marvel at the displays of heirloom pumpkins and gourds.

“I always end up choosing many more pumpkins than my modest front porch can support!” says Chitnis. In September of 2020 she approached owner Sarah Partyka and asked if she could create a large overhead shot of every color, shape, and variety of pumpkin she offered. Partyka agreed.

“As a photographer, I am constantly inspired by nature’s abundant palette and I’d been dreaming of this shot for over a year, ever since my last visit. In my mind, I could see hundreds of pumpkins arranged by color, from the dusky blue green Jarrahdale to the creamy white Casperita, to the mahogany-orange Daybreaks.” Chitnis shares that the resulting photo is one of her favorite shots ever taken over a decades-long career. “As soon as I shared it on Instagram, I could tell it was going to take on a life of its own.”

Sure enough, what followed was a whirlwind as Chitnis’ pumpkin picture raced across social media, reaching millions of viewers. Britney Spears, the queen of pop herself, even reposted the

Heirloom Pumpkins 1000 Piece Puzzle by Galison, packaged in a matte-finish sturdy box, with insert of the full puzzle image included.

pumpkins to her 35 million followers. As an author, Chitnis has a literary agent that helps her land book deals, and recalls a conversation asking what she thought about licensing the pumpkin photo for a puzzle. This was during the height of the pandemic when puzzles were all the rage and selling out in stores across the country. “I thought it sounded like the perfect opportunity to share my photo with a larger audience,” says Chitnis.

The 1,000-piece Heirloom Pumpkins Puzzle was released by Galison in September 2021, a year after the original photo was taken, and it has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm. “I’ve received lovely feedback from puzzle enthusiasts who share with me that the puzzle is quite challenging! I have yet to attempt it, but I’m carving out some time over the holiday break to give it a shot.”

Find the Heirloom Pumpkins 1,000-piece puzzle at The Farmer’s Daughter, and various local and national retailers. Learn more about the artist at ChristineChitnis.com, and follow along on Instagram: @christine.chitnis

Watching owner Guy Hanuka race through the sprawling commercial kitchen where he operates BUNS, it’s hard to believe that this bustling bakery began less than two years ago in his tiny home kitchen.

Hanuka’s path to running Rhode Island’s premiere Israeli bakery is circuitous. After spending four years in the Israeli army, Hanuka loafed around Tel Aviv, taking a job washing dishes at a pastry school. “I found the baking world magical,” he says. From his perch at the sink, he absorbed the lessons taught to the students. It was the artisan bread class – with an instructor who shared the sartorial sensibility of a Johnny Depp character – where he found his path.

This rock-and-roll baker became Hanuka’s mentor, and he spent eight years learning the bread business from him, eventually opening bakeries as far-flung as China. During a fortuitous holiday in Vermont, he met Certified Master Baker Jeffrey Hamelman in line at the King Arthur Flour store. The two kept in touch, and Hamelman suggested Hanuka, who confided he wanted formal training, attend Johnson and Wales’ Advanced Standing program.

A few years, a degree, and a marriage later, Hanuka, worried about mounting bills, went to work for a moving company in Boston. Then, the pandemic happened. He stayed at his day job but with free time to fill at night, “I started to bake again,” he says.

An innocuous post on Facebook, asking if anyone wanted a challah or babka, spread through Rhode Island’s Jewish community like over-proofed bread. He baked 80 loaves in his home kitchen that weekend. “My wife and I wrapped them in parchment paper,” he says, still shocked by the reception. “I bought bags at the dollar store.”

At the time, flour was a hot commodity. After work, Hanuka trolled Walmarts searching for flour and additional bread pans. “I didn’t have time to think; it was crazy from the getgo,” he says. So he leaned into the lunacy and, within two weeks, quit his job and moved his nascent bakery into Hope & Main. Six months later, he outgrew the incubator and found a larger space in Providence.

The secret to his tasty breads and pastries is not the recipes, he insists, noting that anyone can find them online. It’s not skimping on ingredients, even during runaway inflation, and having the patience to make them exactly the same every time, ensuring quality control. Or, “care control,” as he calls it.

Hanuka pushes for quality even with a rise in quantity, noting that the babka he bakes now is even better than when he started. “We are always asking, how do we make this better,” he says, refusing to cut corners or costs. “Volume is not an excuse; your character is.”

Hanuka credits his staff of seven for BUNS’ meteoric success, and the affection he feels for his team of young bakers is evident. He hopes to make the bakery employee-owned in the future. “It’s a team effort,” he says. “I want to make this more than a workplace. We’re all BUNS.” Learn more at BUNSBakeryRI.squarespace.com

BUNS Bakery ships nationwide on Goldbelly.com