Our Visit to the Christmas Tree Farm

When we used to live in California, we always went to a local Christmas tree farm to cut a tree ourselves. Since moving to Florida in 2002, we hadn't done that and found we missed the experience.

So this year I found a family-owned Christmas tree farm about 50 miles away. My husband, Larry, and I took the day off and drove through the countryside on back roads to find our holiday tree.

The sky was grey and there was a light drizzle, but that didn't deter us. We stopped along the way to explore antique shops and admire old houses in a preserved historic district. I bought a wooden recipe box, handmade by a local artisan.

When we reached the tree farm, we were greeted at the gate with a sign encouraging us to breathy deeply, as the trees on this plantation were making fresh air.

The road wound through rows of evergreen trees until we reached the sales tent, where we found the tree farmer. We asked if pesticides had been applied to the trees and he said they only use pesticides when they absolutely have to. They had use pesticides during the summer for aphids, but none had been applied for months (I found this to be typical with other small Christmas tree farms, too--they don't want to use pesticides, but sometimes are required by law to do so).

I asked about the species they grew. They had Leyland Cypress, Sand Pine, and Southern Red Cedar. I didn't know one from the other, so we just set out to look for the tree that most appealed to us.

We walked the fields, examining each tree. They had all different kinds of growth patterns. It wasn't like going to a Christmas tree lot and choosing from perfectly cut and shaped trees. These were trees just as they grow. We could tell we would need to do some shaping when we brought the tree home. Fortunately, Larry used to be a professional tree man, so this was fine with us.

We chose a tree and Larry cut it, and we brought it back to the sales tent. The farmer smiled and said we had chosen a Southern Red Cedar, which was the traditional Florida Christmas tree. He told us how when he was a kid growing up in Florida they didn't import the northern species like they do now, and his father would take him out in the forest each year to cut a Christmas tree. Southern Red Cedar was the species everyone chose. I could see why. The tree is thick and bushy, with feathery branches pointing upwards.

We brought the tree home, happy we had taken the time to experience chopping our own tree and knowing where it was grown and who had cared for it. The price for this very fresh 5-foot tree was $20. Later when I was passing by a supermarket, I noticed that a not-so-fresh, imported 5-foot tree was being sold for $40. '

What a bargain! Not only did we get a fresh, local-species, family-grown, pesticide-free tree for half the price, but we also got a lovely day together exploring the countryside around our home.