At some point in my childhood, my parents ditched the live trees and bought an artificial one, out of respect for my little sister's allergies. I love my sister, but that was also the moment I had it fixed in my mind that when I was grown and had a house of my own, I would have a real, live, scenty Christmas tree.
My husband and I have braved a few years of helping Bridging the Gap clear the prairie of an invasive species through their Red Cedar event. We developed a taste for cutting down our own, but let's just say it's easy to see how those trees are invasive because they are...sturdy. And spiky. Not just when the needles are dried out either. No, everything from cutting them down, to loading them on your car, to decorating, to tossing them out for recycling hurts. Adam still has the needles lodged in a sweater to prove it.
So this being our first Christmas as a married couple in our new house, we wanted to move on from those red cedars. I wish Bridging the Gap all the best and admire their endeavor, but we couldn't bring another one of those trees into our home.
Which is why last Saturday we set out to Lawrence in search of the perfect hybrid of tree hunting: the cut-your-own Christmas tree farm.
Strawberry Hill really has this down, too. We visited one farm before coming here that left us disappointed with not only the quality of their trees but the helpfulness of their staff. Not here. These trees are beauts, Clark, every one of them. And their red-vested staff members are the perfect salespeople: friendly, helpful, easy-to-find, and willing to tell you all about the trees or help you find one, but just as willing to back off and wait to help you once you've found your perfect pine (or fir).
We looked around at the ones grown on the farm there - mostly Scotch pines - and they were seriously beautiful, but also too big for our little house. Luckily for us though, they had a beautiful assortment of Frasier Firs imported from North Carolina and we found one that is seriously perfect: fragrant, 7.5', and just a little full.
When you find your tree, you simply let a red-vested person know and they take it up to be shaken and wrapped. They also give you a ticket that you take in to pay, that matches a number attached to the tree to ensure you get the right one when you pull your car around. After unsuccessfully attempting to tie those red cedars ourselves in years past, we were really happy to have some professionals tie our new tree down to my car so it'll make it back on the highway intact.
They also have some wreaths and swag for sale, along with other decorations and tree stands. And if you do fancy cutting down your own tree, they even have saws for you, and will give you and your tree a ride back from the field once you're through. Oh! And every tree, pre-harvested or not, is already measured for height and marked. Super helpful, given that sometimes those trees that don't seem so big out on the farm suddenly take up the whole living room once inside.
All in all, Strawberry Hill is a terrific holiday experience that we're excited to make part of our annual traditions. read more