A Christmas Tree Farm near the Canadian border… I knew there was a good reason to take these snapshots of these rows and rows of pine trees last Spring when we were in New Hampshire and took time to visit a maple syrup farm, here. For the past few years, we have been fortunate enough to get a live douglas fir Christmas tree from S&R, and it is always a joy when it enters our home and quickly perfumes the living room with that quintessential holiday fragrance of pine. My sisters in New York always get gorgeous, floor to ceilling fresh Christmas trees (blue spruce are spectacular) each holiday season, see this tree from Christmas 2007. Last year we had this bushy specimen. We even managed to see the tree not only come out of hibernation, but grow a few needles as well! Here is another previous post, with tips on how to care for your fresh tree and prolong its life.

It was a cold, wet New England Spring at 35F, so I didn’t wander too far on the muddy farm, though I was tempted to take this little tractor out for a spin…

These trees were rather small, say 5-6 feet tall, but they were nicely shaped (clipped and helped by human hands actually)…

But the fascinating find was the packing contraption that takes a full bushy tree, crams it through a metal ring and tightly wraps it in a plastic netting that reduces its size for efficient packing and shipping. It always amazes me that by this time, some trees have already been cut and packed and placed in containerized vans and they are already making their way across the Pacific ocean to stores in HK, Singapore and Manila…

Every year I offer to announce when reservations for the trees are taken by S&R, and you can do it now. Some folks might think I own shares in S&R, but I don’t, I just want to make sure that enough people get these trees every year so we can too… so there’s definite self interest involved, under the guise of doing the shopping public a service. If you are an importer of mistletoe and sell it for a reasonable sum, I would happily announce that as well. :)

Here are the details on the fresh trees for Christmas 2009, according to my suki at S&R:
 
Douglas Fir (Not the ones in these photos)
Height – 7 to 8 feet
Price – P3,799.95 (with 1 free bottle of chemical preservative) – Roughly $85, a pretty good price considering we are halfway around the world!
Arrival – 3rd week of November
Reservation Fee – P500 (serves as downpayment)
 
Tree Stand – 999.95 (sold separately)
 
Contact numbers for reservation/tree inquires:
Fort Bonifacio – 888-0640 (local 133 to 135)
Congressional – 929-8888 (local 133 to 135)
Alabang – 771-9999 (local 133 to 135)
Aseana – 853-9999 (local 133 to 135)

Please contact S&R directly. I am only the messenger, not the order taker.

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