Most prosperous farm owners suffer many defeats before they find success and Bill Hickman and his wife Leslie are no different: they spent years immersed in farm life trying to find that perfect speciality until they settled on Christmas trees. Now, the rest is history.

Bill, a 69-year-old retiree, grew up on a farm and married his wife some 40 years ago. Bill tells Delaware Online that even though he and his wife had good jobs at the chemical giant DuPont, he lived by the axiom "don't put all your eggs in one basket," so he and his wife moved to a 30-acre lot off U.S. 13 and Bill built their farm house with his own hands as he endeavored to augment their income.

Having grown up immersed in farm life, Bill tried growing beans, corn and peach and apple trees, but without the help of John Deere tractors and other farm equipment, each crop brought its own troubles and not enough income. Bill finally settled on Christmas trees and now, their farm has about 13,000 trees. From the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve, the Hickmans work long hours selling their specialty trees.

Some of their loyal customers have been coming for more than 20 years and the Hickman's farm is famous for its quality trees and unparralled service. Leslie affirms that the couple has "been doing it for a long time" and "that's what's keeping us going, our repeat customers." Farm life suits the couple just fine and they assert that have no intention of retiring anytime soon.