Going Green - Choose and Cut Farms, Part of the New "Green" Movement

A Green Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that during this rough economic time you are finding peace and joy in the season. Today I realized that my family has always been "Green" without even knowing it. Unbeknown to my father he began a "Green" movement 30 years ago by starting a Choose and Cut Christmas Tree Farm. January of 1978, when I was just 2 years old my Mom and Dad planted their first 10 rows of Christmas Trees. What were they thinking? Probably the child, that they left in the van which was running to keep her warm, needs a college education! My Father has always been a planner. As my parents braved the Carolina wet cold to get their daughters education in the ground, that same child was turning on windshield wipers, blaring the horn, turning on and off the lights, and blasting the speakers. Lucky for all of us the emergency brake was set. The following year, they bundled me up and made me help, and every year after that, until I was smart enough to move away from home... just kidding Dad. I look back at those years with the fondest of memories. We planted Virginia Pines and Eastern Red Cedar, which grow on my parents farm still. They dabbled in a few other types of "northern Christmas trees" like white pines, blue spruce and firs, but when they only grew 3 feet in 10 years my parents realized they just needed less heat than the South sweltered in every summer. It takes 6 years for the pine and cedar to reach 6+ feet, so when I was 8 we opened the farm to the public. The Friday after Thanksgiving every year since folks have brought their families to Levy South Carolina - just across the Talmage Bridge from Savannah, to enjoy the tradition of choosing and chopping their very own Christmas Tree. As many remarked every year on how much I had grown, my parents watched young pregnant couples grow into families of 2 or 3. Each year the same families returning with video cameras in hand to mark this special outing. Some people tag trees and come back closer to Christmas to pick them up. Some know that these trees are so fresh, unlike trees on a lot which are already a week off the trunk without water, coming down from NC or Va, that they take them right away. If you put one of my Dad's trees in water, and never let it dry out, it will last past the new year without dropping a needle. And the amazing smell in your home can't be matched by scented candles or fragrant pine sprays that you artificial tree lovers use, and you know who you are! Today I see on MSN that Christmas Tree Farms are in the new "green" movement. Who knew? I mean we know that we help the environment by planting carbon dioxide loving young trees every year. We also see wildlife taking advantage of the unique ecological niche created by a field full of trees. Bluebirds, rabbits, deer, bats, snakes and too many other insects and birds to mention can all be found daily on our farm, in and amongst the trees. The number of bees and wasps that feed on the fragrant sap number in the thousands as they get quite intoxicated, which is pretty darn funny to watch. The browse that grows for the deer between the trees is young and tender and yummy. Birds nest in the trees in spring and we often find bats hanging in them in the early morning as the sun creeps in and warms their bellies. This is how I grew up. An only child with a Pit-bulldog named Boo for a sibling, participating in a "green" movement. We don't truck our trees anywhere, also a reason these choose and cut farms are labeled "green". This year, the day after Thanksgiving, my husband and I helped my parents on opening day. Our usual yearly ritual began again and I was so happy to show off how much I had grown. Children that we saw when they were 2 now are starting families of their own. With much smaller video cameras in hand they laugh and run through the field for hours saying, "this one, no this one" and "timber"! Small children marvel at the drunk bees and laugh as their dads pretend to be lumber jacks. Good quality family time for the cost of 60.00 and a tree tied to the top of their car, well I would say that is just priceless.