So…about that tree farm….

We spent about 6 years trying our very best to create a first-generation Christmas tree farm.  We bought Christmas tree seedlings from the DEC for the first few years.  Often, we had family and friends come help plant them in the sunshine and the pouring rain, and everything in between.  We would measure, dig, plant and keep going. All by hand we used shovels, dibble bars and other various tools.  We were always in search of the best methods to plant and grow healthy, thriving Christmas trees.

In the summers we would take care of them by weed whacking and trimming, it was a very laborious job.  Each season, beginning in April, we’d receive our seedlings anywhere from young seedlings to three-year trees when we switched to a new supplier out of PA.  We had quite a few varieties.  Some seasons we would plant 1,000 others we’d plant 2,500.  We tried to plan it out so we would have successions of trees and then our plan would be to sell a limit of 500 a year so we could keep up with demand. 

Unfortunately, over the years we had planted well over 10,000 trees and barely had 200 thriving trees.  We knew it would not be an overnight booming business, but we also realized we were wasting time and money.  Still, we were determined to make it work considering all of the Christmas tree farms closing down around us, we just had to keep trying. 

By the end of 2022, we did a final count on trees, and the numbers were extremely disheartening.  We realized this probably wasn’t going to be our wheelhouse.  Lucky for us, there was something else that was a possibility for a new direction that we hadn’t really ever considered as a future endeavor.

I believe I’ll end this post with a quote for all you 90’s teens.  A band named Semi-sonic said it best…

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

Until next time...

Rooted in patience, growing beauty one season at a time,

                                                                  — Tracy

You can see some trees at a distance that did survive. There should be thousands more.