Once upon a time, there were no Christmas trees planted at our farm. As with many small family farms, we grew a variety of crops and raised several kinds of livestock. Many acres of hay, wheat, barley, oats, corn, and soybeans were grown, with smaller fields of pumpkins, tomatoes, strawberries, and sweet corn. Cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, and geese also roamed various areas of the farm. Quite a busy place!
Our first Christmas trees were planted in 1977. They weren't much bigger than a pencil, and were planted one at a time with a simple digging bar.
As the tree business expanded, the rest of the farm eventually scaled back. Today we still have cows and chickens as well as the ever present farm cats. Much time and effort is still spent making hay for local buyers, and a few acres of grain are still grown.
As we began to sell more trees, the amount and size of our equipment grew so that just a few people could handle the increased volume, and ever improving quality of trees. In order to manage ~30 acres of Christmas trees we have acquired a fleet of mowers, planters, shears, chainsaws, and small tractors each suited for different tasks. While many of the trees are still trimmed completely by hand, a gas powered backpack trimmer has greatly helped with some of the more basic work.
