Farmers and scouts take joy in seasonal business
Across Carroll County, tree farms are welcoming visitors to tromp among rows of pine trees to find the perfect one to tie down to a car roof.
While some Mount Airy residents opt to walk down to the basement to retrieve the plastic equivalent, those in search of a live Christmas tree aren't hard pressed to find a local spot to purchase the fragrant decoration.
Zepp said tree farming isn't usually a hobby, but more a part-time job or supplemental income. "In some cases it is the tree farmer's full-time occupation," he said.
The Christmas tree farm is a hobby farm for the Athey family of Taylorsville. The front yard of their home used to be a corn field, and is now home to rows and rows of trees for Breezy Trees Farm.
"We bought the land and it was zoned agricultural and we wanted to keep it like that," said Anne Athey, who owns the farm with her husband Mark and mother, Phyllis Matthews.
The family plants the trees as seedlings, at about a foot tall, in the spring. They used to dig the holes, but now have a mechanical digger to plant the trees to replenish the stock — about 200-300 seedlings every year. But planting the trees isn't the end of the work.
"Everyone thinks we just pop these in the ground and then wait a few years to sell them, but this really is a year round adventure," said Mark Athey, who has full- and part-time jobs in addition to the farm, as does the rest of his family.
"The expenses are high to start out and you don't see a return for seven to eight years," he said. And trees are not immune to drought and disease.
The Athey's spray weeds around the trees, and the trees themselves to prevent fungus and insects infestation. "Some things are better to go down and pick them by hand," Anne Athey said. Trees are sheared by hand once per year starting in the summer.
Rachel Athey, a freshman at Carroll Community College, and Tyler Athey, a recent college graduate, stood in a small shed on the farm's driveway on Saturday. Blinking Christmas lights sprawled across the back, while Christmas music played and a space heater glowed on the floor. Outside, a small snowman stood guard.
"The first year we opened we had a canopy," Rachel said. "That was awful."
They worked on Saturday, as the first snowfall of the season fell fast and furious, sometimes needing to help customers or even the mailman out of the snowy drive. Rachel said she thought the snow hindered business because people were too afraid to drive, but Tyler pointed out the positive.
"It's like a dream come true to get your tree in the snow," he said.
The farm provides saws and baling for customers finding the optimal Douglas or Fraser to bedeck their home. "It can take hours to find the perfect tree," Rachel said.
The Douglas tree has stiffer branches and is a fuller tree. "A good all-around tree, not too sticky, shapes up well and is really hardy," said Anne Ahthey, adding that the Fraser is more spindly. "You can really put bulbs back there."
Most people tend to opt for an 8-foot-tall tree, which takes seven to nine years to grow. The farm is relatively young, only open three years for tree sales after planting years ago. The Atheys report they have had repeat customers despite their short history.
Boy Scout Troop 460 of Mount Airy doesn't have to worry about growing trees, but instead sell as many as possible. The group's tree stand in Mount Airy is its biggest fundraiser of the year, enabling the troop to finance trips and materials.
"This has been a good year," said dad Rick Dye, who manned the stand at the Exxon station near the intersection of Penn Shop Road and Md. Route 27 on Saturday afternoon.
He and his two sons — Ryan, a senior at Linganore High School and Daniel, a New Market Middle School eighth grader — are all involved in scouting. The family has been doing the sale since the boys started Boy Scouts years ago.
The troop splits the week day and weekend shifts up, usually having two adults and two scouts to work the stand strung with lights and a blow-up Santa decoration. The scouts help customers choose their trees.
"There's a lot of ‘I want to see this tree, No, I want to see that tree,'" Daniel Dye said.
They also help with the smaller details.
"We always offer to saw off the bottom of tree or clip off any branches," Ryan Dye said. A large stock of trees in back is ready to replenish the ones displayed on the lot.
Rick Dye said a lot of people that purchase trees at the stand say they like supporting the scouts and keep coming back to do it.
E-mail Angie Cochrun at acochrun@gazette.net.
-1510: The first decorated Christmas tree is put up in Latvia. Early Christmas trees are decorated with paper, fruit and sweets.
-1531: The first retail Christmas tree lots are started in German cities.
-By the 1600s: Christmas trees are decorated with ribbon, tin shapes, small books and lace as well as food.
-18th century: The first recorded Christmas tree is decorated with lit candles.
-1777: The tradition of the Christmas tree is brought to Colonial America by Hessian troops fighting for Britain in the Revolutionary War.
-1804: U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn (now Chicago, Ill.) bring evergreen trees into their barracks at Christmas.
-1842: Charles Minnegrode introduces the custom of a decorated Christmas tree in Williamsburg, Va.
-1851: Mark Carr opens a retail Christmas tree lot in New York City making it the first in the United States.
-1856: Franklin Pierce, the 14th U.S. president, brings the first Christmas tree into the White House.
-1923: President Calvin Coolidge starts the tradition of the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony now held every year on the Ellipse between the White House and the Washington Monument.
Source: National Christmas Tree Association
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