Local Tree Farms Mean Business When it Comes to Christmas

It’s holiday time once again in the beautiful green mountains of Vermont. Many local Christmas tree farms are beginning to gear up for the annual rush of spirited families cutting down their own Christmas trees. When visiting the Chapin Christmas Tree Farm on Chapin road in Essex, VT I was able to catch up with Sylvia Berg and discuss the annual festivities. When asked about how profitable her business was Sylvia replied that she “Made $600-$1000 an acre”, pretty good for an annual gig. The Farm itself was situated on a tract of land off of a dirt road in between the road and the wood’s edge, a truly beautiful setting.

After initially meeting with Sylvia it was decided to take a walk around the farm to get a sense of the differing types of trees they had available. There were Fir trees, Blue Spruce, and of course the ever popular Balsam Fir. Each tree unique and colorful in its own way. However, in this industry more trees means less business and more business means fewer trees. The gaps in the rows of evergreens told me that business was good. Most local Christmas tree farms provide their clients with their own hack saws and sleds with which to drag your own tree. At the Chapin farm this is no exception and it makes this traditional activity accessible to the entire family.

According to data from the National Christmas Tree Association, (NCTA) there are currently over 500,000 acres in the U.S. alone that are used for Christmas tree cultivation. These live trees can alone provide 9 million people with oxygen on a per day basis. Overgrown Christmas Trees have also been effectively used to stop erosion on the shores of the Connecticut River in Fairlee Vermont. Their utilitarian functions prove that these Christmas icons are more versatile than their annual duties make them out to be.

As I returned to the edge of the farm Sylvia discussed the importance of buying local Christmas trees. “Choosing and Cutting local Christmas trees is not only beneficial to the environment but the proceeds go to local businesses.” In general, local Christmas tree farms provide consumers with a product that even the heartiest Christmas curmudgeon can feel good about. For many consumers it is the creation and preservation of lasting, nostalgic memories that keeps them coming back year after year.

Some tree farms that want to cash in on the nostalgia of Christmas have come up with some very interesting ways to help their consumers down memory lane. One such farm in Minnesota has their customers pose for snapshots with their respective trees, and when they return the next year they can look on the wall of memories and see past photos of them with their trees. Although they do not have anything like that at the Chapin farm, what they do have is an irreplaceable Vermont landscape that many inner city people would love to be apart of this time of year. Here in New England we are the Courier and Ives Christmas and local tree farms help us to keep tradition and natural beauty together for all who are in the Christmas spirit.a