Searching for the Perfect Christmas Tree

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 Steve Apps Photo: Rob Zaleski and grandson, Zale.

It was a cool, clear, quiet Saturday morning at Roshara, our Waushara County Farm.  A hint of snow covered the grassy areas on the north side of the windbreak, but walking was easy. The subtle smell of pine was in the air.

It was the day of our annual Christmas tree hunt, and a hunt it always is as we have trees of many sizes and shapes, none of them sheared but all growing naturally.  The hunt is complicated by the fact that we have 60 acres of trees, about 40 of them pine and spruce and 60 of them hardwoods, with spruce found here and there among the maple and white oak trees.

Since we bought the farm in 1966, we have planted trees each year.  In the early years we planted a thousand or more trees each year, one year even 7,500.  Mostly we planted red pine, but also a few Norway spruce.  Naturally growing at the farm are white pine, seeded from a white pine windbreak the Coombes family planted in the 1930s.  Jack pine is native to the area, and we have a sprinkling of them here and there on the property.  And Scotch pine also grow naturally. Some consider them an invasive, weed tree, but they make a fine Christmas tree, Scotch Pine are relatively short needled and the needles stay put on the tree.

So, what kind of a tree for Christmas? The goal: A tree for Ruth and me, a tree for Steve and Natasha, a tree for Paul and Sue, and a tree for our friends Rob and Cindy Zaleski.

Earlier, I had selected a white pine about six feet tall, fully branched and quite beautiful.  So that was the first one cut.  After that, the crew was on its own as I had not tried to second guess what each family would like.

By noon, everyone had a tree of their choice.  Smiles all around as he sat down in the cabin for our noon lunch.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: There is something special about selecting a Christmas tree among so many choices.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.