|
|
|
|
Tons of people visit Christmas tree farms every year. We went
to visit one to see what this kind of farm was like. The
owners of Collinswood Tree Farm, Mr. Alan Bickhardt and Mr.
Jon Reber, gave us a terrific tour that taught us a lot about tree
farms.
|
 |
|
Trees are planted in the spring but it takes many years before they
are ready to cut for Christmas. In the picture above, you will
see trees that are all sizes. This is because the smaller ones
have just been planted to replace cut down ones.
There are many different types of pine trees such
as Blue Spruce, Balsam, Fir, etc.
It depends on the type of soil you have which will grow best.
There are different types of needles for different types of trees.
The Fir pine tree has long, thin needles.
The Blue Spruce has short, thin needles. |
Pine
tree up close |
We
thought that this was just a job at Christmas, but that's
wrong. During the spring, the Christmas tree farmer plants new
trees, trims, and shapes them. The mowing season begins,
too. All through the summer and fall, the farmer mows around
them so that weeds don't change the shape of the tree.
|
|
The farmer will also spray the trees for bugs and disease if they
have any. Other
problems can be drought, disease, bad soil, and lack of
nutrients. The farmer has to watch for these things and fix
them if he can.
When
Christmas season comes, Christmas tree farmers spend even more time
working. Lots of customers cut and buy the trees then.
Some places have trees already cut for people to buy but a lot of
farms let you cut your own down. We visited one of
those.
If you cut your own tree, you can either bring
your own saw or sometimes farmers have a bunch of them for customers
to use. Tree saws are very sharp and kids shouldn't carry them
or use them without checking with a parent. There are lots of
tree stumps from cut down trees and if you trip with a saw you might
get hurt. |
 |
 |
Cutting down a Christmas tree is a lot of hard work.
First you walk all over the fields until you find a 'good' one and
then you lay down under the tree and saw until the tree falls
down. You need to be careful that the tree doesn't fall on
you. It's a good idea to have someone with you to watch for
this or hold the tree until you get out from under it. |
|
When you
have cut down the tree, you drag it to the place where you
pay. Sometimes the farmers have little wagons that you can put
it on so that it's easier to move it. Farmers usually charge
money by how tall and what kind of tree it is. |
|
|
When
you have paid for the tree, you wait until the farm helpers can
'bale' it. This means that they tie strings or put net around
the tree with a baling machine. If you look at the picture to
the left, you will see the machine. If the tree is pulled
through the red part, the tree will come out the other side with
string wrapped tightly around the tree. This pulls in the
branches so that the tree is easier to get in or on your car.
|
|
We
not only got the tour, but we picked out a great Christmas tree,
too. We learned a lot about tree farming and that it is a lot
of hard work to run one!
|
|
|
