Christmas tree farming: Talking with the largest U-Cut Grower in the Clark County.
Rob here from the flanigan homestead uh Splitting firewood trying to put it away And i realized i didn’t do the intro for This video that’s about to you’re about To see so Um Many of you seen some of the abbreviated Uh versions uh with the interview with Glenn thornton owner of thornton’s Treeland he’s the largest u-cut Christmas tree grower here in clark County washington he sells about five Thousand trees a year at an average Price of about eighty dollars a tree so Yeah you do the math he’s doing really Well uh anyway I’m about um I’m gonna play more of the video a lot Of it had to do with his uh time and Forestry everything i’m gonna put the Christmas tree stuff first but leave a Lot of stuff in there a lot more than What i edited out so you get to know Glenn and how he does things and then I’ll leave a little bit of how he Started in forestry there if you’d like To see that but we’ll go christmas trees First uh one of the interesting things You haven’t seen the videos before is uh In the i noticed when we were talking is Uh he has parking spaces for 300 people At any given point so Yeah he’s doing a little bit more uh Bringing a few more customers few than i
Am but uh anyway here’s glenn Pulling into thornton’s tree land The largest u-cut christmas tree Farm in callus county washington And i’m going to talk with glenn Thornton today This is where the barn that they do Their sales out of In the winter Now i just need to go find glenn see Where he’s at You can see the west side of Southwest side of some of their trees Definitely got the burn too He sheared the dugs already over here And sheared off most of the burn it Looks like On those he sheared pretty tight I don’t know if that’s because the Shape of the tree once or getting off The sunburn from the heat this year He tends to Trim his trees tighter than i to trim Mine anyway Looks like the nordmanns or turkish are Doing pretty good It was a 1968 So did you buy this place or was it Family property or No i my wife and i had a dream of five Acres in the country Well this isn’t five acres it’s not the Country anymore anyway no well it’s Still somewhat country yes
And then in 1970 we started planting Christmas trees so what made you decide You know we all have a different story On how we got to doing christmas trees My story was my grandfather made some Money on it did well he i helped him out A little bit i learned the bare basics My property is too steep i ran into a Friend that had Decent land he’s like i have land but no Nothing you have some knowledge and we Went into it together but it was kind of A Family thing for me what was it just Strictly a good business decision for You or what drew you to christmas trees Well of course i told you i was a Graduate forester in oregon state So i was interested in trees We began by having some So-called beef cattle And i too i had two older brothers we Were all started out as missouri farm Boys And I had written the last paper i wrote When i was going to oregon state was Christmas tree production So i had the interest you know on Christmas tree but i didn’t know Anything about it or really get into the Business But here it was so we had this piece of Land we had cows
Cows run around require fences and all This and the other most you can make on A steer Is 50 bucks I don’t care how you cut it in those Days That’s all you got out of a steer after You raised it was 50 Which is not very much But then i was getting acquainted with The timber with the christmas tree Industry In 19 That was 1970. So i decided i would plant Trees and Make a choosing cut So we planted about five acres of Christmas trees And uh we started selling those in 19 Really in 1975 And the people came and bought them And so imagine that well Well i had a lot of rhubarb with that You know fatty christmas tree my eldest Brother says i know how you eat a cow But how do you eat a christmas tree and I had another very close Old friend and he said i’ve known lots Of people planting christmas trees but i Never didn’t know anybody made any money On them So But anyway
But before i really Set my place up I had joined the pacific northwest Christmas tree growers association i Went to their field trips and so on i Was somewhat of an adversary to them Because i work for the revenue service And as my mother says glenn don’t you Know no one likes a tax collector So Anyway but I learned a lot about it and then it’s Setting the place up and the Organization plus We were able then in 1977 To buy a 23-acre track to the south of Us and an eight-acre track to the west Of us so that gave us about 52 acres or Something here so you have 52 acres now Are all 52 christmas trees and the barns And structures that go along with it Well I have probably about 30 to 40 acres of Christmas trees growing here And uh it pretty well meets my uh The demand for choosing for people who Want to come out and cut their tree now We have another a few competitors around The county too But But we’ve been able to stay in in the Business now since uh Well we started selling trees really About 1975.
Okay so how many Uh Approximately a little over 30 acres are In christmas trees how many trees or Spots for trees do you have Approximately Well I probably have maybe sixty thousand Christmas trees growing here but that’s A very small Uh christmas tree Inventory because Um We have we have christmas tree growers Down in oregon they have 7 000 acres of Christmas trees Yeah well i i just did an interview with Uh Bruce summers at lewis river Reforestation you know and they plant in Woodland and they Grow for where not warehouses but other Timber companies but they have one Christmas tree contract and they grow For holiday farms and they grow over a Million trees a year yeah Yeah i’m very familiar with holiday Yeah yeah so i i knew That was started by uh he’s actually a Prophet oregon state for a while his Name was hal shoodle And he has three or four sons and And um As long as i can re he was in the
Christmas tree business Actually he was kind of he and uh Two or three other uh farmers Christmas tree growers they were really The uh pioneers Of the current christmas tree Uh business because um They were they were when when those Companies really started they were going Out in the forest and finding trees and They would uh cut them and They’d get cutting permits from the land Owner some of it was private some of it Was Government And They would Bundle those trees in a bundle of three They’re natural grown so they’re not Thick they’re not dense or not heavy And they’d sell those as a bundle Or a bale And they were loading them on trucks and Railroad cars to ship them wherever they Were going California is a big big market for Christmas trees of course california’s a Big market for anything yeah And uh But they went to they they got quite Expensive in it so we’ve been actually Selling trees here since nineteen what Did i say 75 and how many trees did you Sell last year approximately well we
Sell a few thousand It varies year by year and But we have been able to maintain a Maintain a business here on the trees we Sell And and we have enough gross income to Where we can afford to hire labor Right there’s a lot of people going to Christmas tree business they’re going to Do it all themselves And they find out five acres a pretty Good patch Yeah so i mean interesting story that i Have a business partner and when we Planted before we started we did all the Work ourselves when we were younger you Get older i don’t know if you realize That And then you don’t have quite the energy But then i have four strong sons and he Had a couple son they helped us but now My sons have all now graduated and so We’re in the interesting thing i mean Uh of continuing to find people that are Skilled enough and good enough workers To keep going so that that is definitely A challenge i have two working for me Right now Well uh And then my stories like yours my boys Were just little guys my older three Sons They all grew up here from uh working in Trees our daughter included
So my boys were just like your boys they I had a good crew And and they they learned how to work Here yeah and They learn how to dig That’s one Well the boys look back on it you know As a matter of fact my youngest son he Said dad there’s one thing i learned to Do on the farm it was to dig Because i’ve heard guys that had no idea How you get that shovel the ground or The digginess Yeah it’s quite an education tool Uh so but you transitioned from working In the timber industry you started Planting then you start selling the First year how many trees did you sell Actually i started we actually started Selling treats in 1974. My boys They helped plant them I think we sold 90 trees in 1974. I have big parking lot yeah and then i Have wide roads so i can Not parallel park endo park you know Around both sides and drive traffic down The middle we can probably accommodate Up towards 300 cars here We first started the only tree we Planted but we planted douglas fir And scotch pine Scotch pine has a problem with it and That it shades out on the north side of
The tree uh you know Yeah and so you you don’t have a Balanced tree And then So we went to austrian pine they’re much Better But pine starts fading In september you don’t notice it But it starts and it turns out to be Yellowish When it comes time to sell it So when you grew Pine we learned how to do that We sprayed them green There’s a certain it doesn’t rub off it Doesn’t wash off It stays permanent And people would say to us customers They love those austrian pines If they like pine That is How do you get them so green oh we paint Them and just laughed you know You know that was it but we did actually Paint them yeah that’s interesting i’ve Heard that so speaking of varieties of Trees Um of the trees that you sell I i I saw noble out there nordman already Dug for just when i was looking for your Shearing crew what what all are you Planting and kind of what Percentage-wise what’s your biggest tree
Now Anyway so now we go douglas for Noble fur Fraser fur Norman fur and grenfer Both norman and frazier’s been real Accepted by our clients and we sell Quite a few of grant fur Grandfather is a dense tree like a Tightly trimmed dug fur yeah but it has A All the christmas trees that includes The eastern trees They are the most aromatic oh yeah Beautiful But if you have allergies it’ll drive You out of your own house I i was just hearing some of my trees Yesterday and i was just again thinking About I mean as i’m cutting limbs off those Grand first just oh this smells so good I like to scoop them up sometimes just Put them in my truck on the way home Because they smell so good i consider Grand first to be the cadillac dog fur Because you can shape them very Similarly but they’re darker and they Smell better yeah that’s my opinion well I think you’re right about all that too Especially norman and noble uh Those babies will be green and april Just about you know yeah the grant for a Loser needle i talked some of my friends
Into trying the nordman and then they Swore that they’ll never have a Different tree other than a nordman from My property on their farm now because They’re like They just stay green and they don’t lose Noodles and they’re just yeah well the Norman has a odd tree all right Because i have norman Uh we used to plant pine if you had an Area you didn’t have as good of drainage As you would like to have Pine would take the extra water Norman will do better in the pine Yeah And another thing about norman they Don’t have any insects or fungus Problems That’s you just plant the tree and trim It yeah i find that it shapes a little Bit harder than a noble yeah but The aphids don’t bug it the mites don’t Bug it it it just grows and just yeah It’s kind of what you call bulletproof Yeah yeah we have we have norman And we we’re still planting them they’re Very slow starting yes I remember having norman uh we’re of Course cutting and selling Now there’s the right size but Good night they just sit there for three Years all right glenn You may have been successful if Someone came up to you and said i’m
Thinking about starting a christmas tree Farm what advice would you give them Well i think i would reflect back on What i did myself first off I started learning about christmas trees And one of the big ways i learned was Joining the pacific northwest christmas Tree growers association Because they have they have people in There that go from just a few trees up To The big growers that’ll sell a million Trees a year And so you start learning about trees And that’s the second thing the first Thing is maybe the growing the tree but Almost the head of growing the tree is Marketing the tree There’s an old saying you can have the Best what not in the world But if you can’t sell it it’s not worth A plug nickel And So i can see you’re trying to go Christmas trees and Bare dirt Some people like to have grass in Between some like dead rose some like Whatnot so you’re of the policy still Nothing but christmas trees Pretty much and the reason you like that Not saying it’s right or wrong but i’ve Seen people doing every different way Just no competition for the moisture or
Just cleaner look or This has been successful for a long time And i i i see the same stuff you’re Talking about And uh they want to put right down the Middle But and you can do that you can set your Sprayer And get one that’s only a half moon Yeah and you just go down and spray it Right out but that ground And then we’ve got some kind of an Aggressive grass that’s come in here And boy you don’t want that stuff to get Away So Yeah we used to go better we were trying To do less chemical But Once you let a little bit in there Of weeds you get a lot of weeds Especially we have super nice soil And anything wants to grow in it yeah so Well And now here see This is all summer flush They’re going to grow out a little bit But it looks to me like this might be Dead from here on out Yeah well what we’re going to do We’re not gonna do we’re gonna watch Them for a little bit And But we’re not gonna just say hey we
Gotta throw it away Now this is small enough tree See it’s got green needles down to here Now i’m not going to do this You know but what we’re going to do We’re going to see what happens On these trees this is not too bad And we got now this one look at that guy I’m sure this is all dead out here But when i get down to this This summer flush I still I think that’s got a green needle there So i’m kind of wondering At this point uh It’s like I’m not too excited About Cutting them off and throwing them away Because this tree still got two or three Years to grow yeah so On my farm we we did do a fairly Aggressive shearing yeah Obviously it left some brown because we Can’t completely change the shape but we Figure a lot of these probably won’t Sell this year but there’s enough Needles one night it’s gonna grow out we Figure some of the needles will drop off We’ll have the new growth next year Pushing out past it see this one here Outside of being a problem of its own We just had bugs here But this bed’s gone
And now here i don’t know I think maybe I’ll do this And do this Tie this up like this And let those start growing out as Branches If i want to tie it like this And then pull these up a little tighter And do it again i might be able to fill That hole in Unfortunately i don’t have many like This when you’re tying up branches like That what do you use to tie them I just use old uh plenty of ribbon Yeah flagging tape type thing yeah well I would buy the Tree fare You know there’s They It’s that It’s they got different colors yeah Marking ribbon i guess you call it i Don’t know what they call that yeah So we have right here a super Young tree a big tree that’s market size Another small tree so on my farm we tend To wait till the tree is gone and then Plant another one but It looks like You have the strategy of letting The seedlings get their roots Established get started and then you Know this one’s going to go out so
They’re already started is is that Typical of what you do For sure it takes seven Plus years to grow a Noble fur So if you start every year with a Bearish bare ground it’s going to take You seven years at least But by end by planting after the tree is Getting a good size on it And this this tree right here has been Around three years So yeah and it’s still not big enough to Interfere with the other one yet But it’s getting established A lot of these have been around only Three years but look what i got here Yeah i’m gonna take this tree out Well next year i’m gonna have two i Meant this tree’s gonna be here Yep So instead of On my farm i’m gonna have a tiny little Seedling sitting there on your farm You’ve got a three-year-old tree ready To go well but if i do it next year I got four years Already Is gonna be up here There’s um Not quite five There’s six feet I’m gonna i’m gonna have another tree Here in three or four years yeah you’re
Gonna have a marketable tree in less Than half the time Instead of seven years i’ve grown up in Four years And are you doing that with every Variety of tree As much as i can now doug first Different i don’t I’m pretty pretty uh I pretty much don’t do that with doug Fur because they grow so fast And uh Like i wouldn’t planted a little i dug Fur Against a tree like this now this tree Should go this year yeah so how far Apart are your rows Five feet five feet Okay and my trees originally Is Five feet on row Five by five you get seventeen hundred And Fifties Seventeen hundred trees an acre at five By five now if you do a five and a half By five and a half You’re going to cut it down to around 15 1350 i think it is yeah yeah that’s kind Of where we’re at on our farm Our newer Section that we’re planting we’re Planting closer than we originally did
Well but yeah but the trees themselves Like when i take this tree out here These these two trees are a little close But if i but if i take this tree out Here That’s pretty close to five feet yep and This one here Probably close About About five feet Let’s remind us a few of them this year So we’ve got This big tree growing right into those Two There’s a there’s a nice house-sized Tree yep i reach a little over seven Feet yeah So when that comes out i mean it Definitely would if it wasn’t for the Sunburn this year But then you’d have another tree right There right there Halfway to production yeah both of them Okay while you’re talking about you know It’s going to be up here then up here Uh on the nobles how many years do you Just let them run up height wise and Then when do you start shortening the Leaders and having them fill out Well About five and a half feet You you’ve got to have you’ve got to get That top See that isn’t
Although i probably won’t put a tag on The tree it might be soaked But I won’t Because i want this thing to push out a Little bit more And i got this tree this is a Top We might put a stick on it to pull it up I don’t know i think we’re gonna Probably be all right Now if i want to grow a dense tree I i just shorten this all a little bit Leave this So Yeah this tree here Because it got burned a little bit more I don’t know if we want to shear these Or just leave them they’re gonna I’ll tell you what i think this stuff’s Gonna shrivel up Yet So Yeah this is a question a lot of us are Asking because we’ve never dealt with i Mean It was 11 degrees hotter on my farm than It’s ever been i mean it wasn’t just one Or two degrees hotter it was 11 degrees hotter and i so some of my Trees look in a way that i’ve never Dealt with before so we’re trying to Figure that out Too i’ll tell you what i i
On my own farm i One year We had a week of almost 108 degrees Almost a week Now i mean those trees had so much burn In them and i worked all fall Trying to get enough Just trimming little red spots out of Here And i finally ended up but customers Didn’t see any problem in the bottom But they weren’t red but i’ll tell you It was a struggle well that brings up That was almost a week of 108 degrees That’s the hottest i’ve seen it I don’t believe i’ve ever seen anything Over 108 or so But this year you know you had that Hundred They said 115 degrees i never did think I got quite that hot here Maybe 113 or 14. well i my truck said 116 when i was driving out to the farm One day to work and i was just like holy Cow and you’re gonna go out and work in It well i was waiting for it it was Gonna cool off a little bit later and i Was gonna go put a water on a few things That i was gonna try to say but that’s The other thing you don’t people like Why don’t you water well that’s just not The way christmas tree farming in Northwest is doing when i say i’m going To water
I i have a well here that a good well i Get 22 gallons a minute and i’ve got Irrigation pipeline down here i used to I when i first started doing frasier fur I tried to water that That’s more of a project than I had It’s just too much acreage too i didn’t Have the water supply for it So walking up to this tree i saw This is last year’s price tag Oh sorry i just tore it out but this is Last year’s price tag you Individually price every tree right Um You know i i know a few farmers that do That some do it by the foot some do by The variety have you always done Individually priced trees and What’s the advantage of that and who Prices all of them Okay I told you i went to all the different Christmas tree farms and i had several Years see After i planted trees had six years to Go look at other trees and i went And there was a guy up by tacoma south Of tacoma just to the His name was um He became a State representative And but that guy now he had a population Area in there and he didn’t have any
That’s in that tacoma seattle corridor Up there and he didn’t have any Competition He was planning on selling ten thousand Trees out here And uh he said and we closed by the Middle of december And he had parking lots And that’s how i finally i found out I copied him Quite a bit But he priced Every tree Now I don’t know how you’re selling your Trees But like um Well like this tree right here That’s gonna be a pretty good tree Um It’ll go And uh So That’s a seven and a half foot Number one noble So what’s what’s that gonna go for this Year seven and a half foot number one Noble 89 or 93 somewhere in there Yeah Now I had a i had a good friend he’s not Really a personal friend but he is a Good friend in ways we’re friendly with
Each other we’re competitors And he always did a flat price Anything up to seven feet was X dollars And i was Hanging tags And um He had a little treat like that if Anybody wanted it was Flat price Uh anything up uh whatever was 50.40.50 And no matter how big it was it was this Big of still 50 dollars The only problem is he had a tree here That could be fifty dollars but it had Another two feet on it So he got seven feet So This tree right here would be considered Like a seven foot tree Well Uh He says you’ve got to spend Weeks out there pricing your trees That’s a lot of extra work I started selling trees for seven Dollars a piece flat rate and i got up To about 13 flat rate And then i said i’m gonna buy tags Well the first year see any any tree out There’s 13 bucks Well
I had a ticket made i didn’t get too Aggressive but i think i had like 19.95 Was my top price in that day And um I so i’ve been selling for 13 Well right away here’s two customers Coming Young lady and this older gentleman And The guy he paid i had a 1995 on That’s a tree i won he bought it And this young lady she came along she Said Uh she wanted a smaller tree It was 13.95 And um Got time well last year you’re selling That 1995 tree for 13.95 And the guy who bought it said yeah but He says i got a lot bigger tree than you So That’s helped keep us in business Yeah now i have another friend He’s down in uh silver and that’s so State in oregon somewhere down in there And he came out and he wanted to see how I was doing it And so he went got some tickets made up And he priced these trees individually He said man i’m getting a lot more money Out of my trees than i would be if i had To do a flat rate Let’s be right in top 80s
So Do you tag every tree every year or you Just tag a whole bunch of trees and say If it’s not tagged you can’t buy it The trees i want to sell We tag in price And uh people say well how come we Didn’t take that tree over there Well we got so many trees we want to Sell we gotta have something for next Year and we just figure well this tree Will take another year it’ll make it a Little bit better yeah So Oh yeah that makes good sense some trees Will fill into a number one when they’re Not this year and then there’s always a Guy that says i just have to have this Tree Okay we put a seven foot price a minimum And we let him have it for that We we just tell people we were Well that brings up an interest you know We’ve Been selling for i don’t know how many Years now but you know Our farm has now become a tradition for Many families and it’s fun to see them Come back and They become part of your family Or your Holiday family i guess you should call It well You know we have several thousand
Customers And i used to go to these tree fares and I still do And these people had a Little choosing cut thing And They would be a chosen cutter and they’d Be telling you now here’s how you do it These people come And and they’ve got a little baby this Year So you remember him you talked to him Last year and you remember hey you Didn’t have that little baby you got it This year And you’re just chunky with them all you Just Gather around Or see them all come And i’m sitting there thinking good Night We have Quite a few thousand customers And how would i have time to talk to Each one in a personal way So So i I thought later i probably shouldn’t Have done it so i piped up and said you Know that’s quite interesting I’d actually rather sell a thousand Trees in the day and not talk to anybody And There were people were stunned that i
Said that but here’s the Guy he he he just says hey he says i Really got a kick on that you’re right i Would do it too i’d rather sell a Thousand trees But the ones i do get to talk to i try And we’d be polite and friendly yeah we We have some cliches we use And we refuse to get in a fight with you Over a christmas tree or they’ll come in And say My tree is no good i want to bring it Back Okay And and they’ll say i don’t have any Receipt I said well boy you really got problems No receipt because you know we got all This big crowd here And then you tell them nobody else has To receive either they do or they don’t You’re here If your tree If you’re unhappy with your tree tell You what you how much you pay for Whatever they tell you say well Go find something you like Leave your tree here And sometimes that tree we can’t figure Out why they brought it back and we Might we might resell it yeah But because So they actually bring a tree back i Mean when you cut it’s interesting i i
Mean we haven’t had people doing that Because They get to walk all the way around the Tree while it’s live i mean they look at It closely i don’t know why they’d Choose a tree that they End up not liking oh i had a lady bring One back last year and We couldn’t figure out why she said He’s dying Okay yeah it’s been cut down Well No i just well we talking this one Go Okay okay so here’s my store let me so Barry and i were talking about how we’re Not good businessmen because we’re both Nice guys And But So The shortage of trees last year you know Weisman’s closed down early we had to Close down early and we did raise our Prices from the year before but we Raised him 10 bucks and the market would Have bear bore more From where we were But we’re like we just can’t stand to Raise our price more than 10 a year for These people who’ve been coming back Every year so i mean there’s a nice Balance between Go get yourself a ticket and print it up
And put it on that tree and you’ll find How much are you charging for a tree Last year we sold nobles for 75 dollars But that included Trees that were 10 11 feet tall Well we didn’t we didn’t have a whole Lot of those but here’s our reasoning on That and we we’ve been rounding around On Marking up the bigger trees for more and Everything And we did that one year and then the Years that we didn’t do that the big Trees were gone The years that we did do that some Stayed and then i had to climb up on a Ladder and shear that sucker the next Year and put a top on it so There was value in us getting that tree Out And yes it’s a great deal i mean people For a while there we had because as we Were developing our customer base We got to where we had a lot of big Trees then when people found out that we Were selling Ten footers for the same price as eight Footers We got flooded and they got cleaned out And we were like we could have made a Lot more money which we could have but We were happy to get these trees that we Were climbing up on ladders out of there And get new ones started
Well see I i’m really interested in talking to You and i i don’t want to be offensive So tell it like it is i’m a nice guy The inference is i’m not a nice guy well You’re not glenn just kidding No but we’ve had that discussion about You not i mean but we just said you know Glenn’s a better businessman Well i No i don’t know how much see i actually Was able to quit my daytime job in 1987. I had 32 years in federal service i was A top grade field agent for the revenues As had been and i was still It would have been if i’d have stayed But as the timber industry was dying Fast And 92 from bill clinton and al gore Come out and said we stopped all road Building on federal lands i mean they Were real big heroes Two Parallel idiots Anyway I mean That’s what they did they had no idea What they’re doing to these western States yeah There was all these towns down in oregon There’s no jobs there and the del mar Guardians in portland voted for the Shutdown yeah Okay this is our tree stand this little
Peg will hold up a nine or ten foot tree Just fine Now if you get a big tree you may want To guy a little bit to a leg but i have A double On Also And that’s a five quart water bowl And we have a A drill machine I’ll show you outside where we put it Okay but real quick while we’re here so Here here’s your Supply of the stands i mean just the Wire and we’ve got the spike sticking up Here As soon as you stick this on here and This seals up enough that this is not Going to leak in the People’s homes You’re saying that doesn’t leak I have sold thousands and thousands of Them I sell probably five or so hundred of Those a year And uh People we we call it the marriage saving Tree stand And i want to tell you guys come in here And they’re a husky i like you And he knows that he has to take after You home and get it straight because He’s got a finicky little five foot two Wife
And he says i crawls out from under the Tree after the three screws or four Screws and a collar he knows he cannot Go any further that way And he crawls out from under the tree And looks around and says ah looks looks Pretty good to me and she says it’s Still leaning to the left Look at that and he get in a fight over Within a tree straight or not and then If he starts shimming it Well the cockeyed thing’s got the three Screws four screws it’s down here it’s Got a little burst stick and i’m Supposed to be holding that tree steady And everything slips and he’s got to Start all over and he’s already that’s Terrible missed half of the i Understand i have been the the guy under The tree standing it up and i’ll tell You i have many customers that have been To wiseman’s or you before and they end Up on our place for one reason or Another and they ask about this stand And i are not just the stand because They have the stand already but they’re Like can you drill this and i said no That’s why we’re working on getting Uh the machine to drill it which we Don’t have one that works well yes it’s Sold out now but i i knew tim But Now i’m just showing you the inside here Because we have another rod that goes up
Straight Now Let’s go on outside And i’ll show you the rest of it Because you you’ve got you’ve got to Have a plum You know what plum is I i used to be in construction if i Don’t know what plum is i need to be Shot well i don’t know too much about it But see these two poles Yep Those are pretty straight rods Yeah and you’ve got and this is a pretty Level pad And we bolt that We bolt that Drill machine to here Okay And so uh The machine actually faces this way the Guy with the handles here And so we got a guy like you standing There holding that tree He slices it right down the middle with That pole and i’ve got this pole that Goes up A little bit to the barn Towards the barn away from the barn away From the barn Or this guy says Towards the street towards the street Whatever description you know everybody Knows which way you’re
Pointing and then you say She’s Ready ready And then You put that stand on you know and these People are standing around here you see This guy Dumb looking guy And then i i walked around that standard For a little bit and i said hey How’s it going It’s going good And and and then no people tell me you Know i’ve been i’ve been thinking of Coming out here since august Now bruce gets he bruce is a salesman And he’s done a great job out there And um You’re sound like you’re doing a pretty Good job too because you would would you Say you got 75 dollars out of that tree This year Well that’s a whole lot better than My neighbors around here they have not No place to park or they got They might be getting forty dollars for A tree i don’t know how they do that at That Well You’re a little better because bruce was Going about that And that’s why he said 15 years He has come out here
And um And not a lot but he’s been here several Times and he looked like oh Wow 35 You know So So you’re saying don’t start shaking Because you’ll never be able to stop Yeah well they like it so well because What you’re doing is you’re shaking all The needles out of those trees and those Ladies they got nice houses And and oh Oh Once i put that in there one time it got So cold The thing got frozen up And i i just had a day or two like that Oh and it was way late in the season so I didn’t injure too many customers going Man No shaker Your shaker’s not working Yeah that’s that’s our bottleneck i mean We get people coming up and then we just Waiting for the shaker shake it get it Out shake it get it out and then But you don’t charge for the shaking Neither do we do do you use charge for Bailing i charge five bucks to bail five Bucks a bill yeah we don’t bail we don’t Have a baler And we don’t even have the net baler we
Figure We could do Well now you know there’s the twine but Do you have a twine baler You don’t even have a bad we don’t bail At all okay well forget it don’t start It because once you start it they want It you’ve got to keep it back Yeah but i I have uh of course I’ve i’ve sold several truckloads of Trees so i have a well i have a stream Back here in the corner yeah And then i have a Baler that uses this netting The beauty of the netting is We we might sell a thousand eight Hundred a thousand trees out of here in A day And so i got a crew up there well Uh my Guy joe He can grab that thing and yank that Thing right through there but if you got A twine baler you gotta hook it up and Drag it so right the the net baler is a Lot faster i mean Yeah baylor the netballer’s a lot faster And those people Uh accepting we might have a coupon now Two bucks off Free baling and shaking Well if we got that coupon then we they Don’t get charged but
We take in Enough money to pay for the twine all Right What about uh the drilling for the Marriage savings stand No What you’re doing when you do that You are you just elevated your Class when you went to that tree Stand if you Do light spray in the grass the grass Starts growing long before the tree does Right and so by the time the tree gets Ready to grow the grass has really Sucked all the moisture out Now we did we do have some we’ve been We’ve been uh Backpacking and respraying for this Other kind of grass that’s coming in But i figure we either do it or we’ll Have a grass field out here So Do you run a Narrow tractor up and down the rows to Spray everything yeah So it’s got what a 36 inch wheelbase or Something 38. Yeah i’m going to go right to him here I’m going to drive you up to my machine Building and i’ll show you my truck 18 to 20 horsepower Diesels And they weigh about a ton
They’re four-wheel drive And they’ll pick up 1300 pounds on the Pto on the back really So the Christmas tree tractor doesn’t come with The garb to keep the branches out of the Wheels you had to create that yourself Yeah you guys do all kinds of things I happen to do this I’m not a craftsman A welder I i wouldn’t do too much of a job Make this see you can look down here and See you could you can move that in a Couple inches On each side But you know I hardly ever see a A dead branch It’s a double it’s a 24 foot wide road And then this is um Noble field that i have coming on i’ll Maybe get Some out here this year but for sure a Lot of them like next year Now i’m noticing you have Striped paints for parking has that been There since last Yeah christmas sales i’ll tell you what I wrestled with this for years on how What am i gonna do And um I had a guy come out and stripe it good 91 three four hundred dollars and i did
That one year and then the next year He wanted some trees so i thought well Okay i can I can trade some trees and we talked About it yeah i can stripe for you Well when it come time to stripe he Still i he had the trees But he still charged me the same 300 So i decided And a friend told me buy this little Striper down at home depot and do it Yourself yeah these are norman And those are little ones we planted Inter-planted there And uh What we have here now we had a parking Lot out there when we come back i’m Going to take you on another little Round But i can park this way Yeah i can see you’ve got uh stripes on Both sides so people can park yeah you Said you can park 300 cars probably I don’t think i’ve ever had 300 cars Here but i’ve had it pretty full Um Yeah I’ve never really proved that i may not Be able to But anyway this is a wet area And i had a drain towel this guy drained Tile but he didn’t get it on great so The thing wouldn’t drain Now what do you mean by drain tile i
Don’t think that is called for drain Towels this big around And it’s perforated there’s slits And now water and the ground will run Into that and run off oh and it’s set to Run off all right But it didn’t Because he didn’t have it on grade So i have put it I mowed around those pipes sticking up Because they’re all down in the ground On the pipe and i bought a little that’s Like a trance at a level And i’m gonna see how this is But Uh The this is When we put that one we have a one-way System up here wherever i told you the Entrance was yeah this is all one way to Here and it goes out and goes straight Ahead So they can get into this area down here And these are nobles on both sides of The road And you can see those that i call Naturals in there And Those are becoming more popular in my Opinion Well we sell every one of them we got There was We saw quite a few of them and we Charged ten dollars extra for it
We’ve been spraying this grass here Okay Now i’m just gonna make a little Diversion here because See i’m in a non-burning area I can’t burn here although i used to get A permit And then they got another different guy Down at the Clean air agency it’s washing state Clean air And he says you’re not gonna get a burn Anymore And just like that you know So And then i can i mow those blackberries I’m in the process of doing some mowing So this looks like you’re expanding Over here You walk in here i got these roads so They can walk in here and they can’t Drive in there And those are all that’s all dug for Those on this side right here those were Just planted this year Those dug fur they just take off see Those look really good so speaking of Planting this year We lost almost all of our seedlings this Year what time did you plant them we Planted them March Yeah well that shouldn’t Where’d you get them
Brooks crossing Brooks yeah that’s where i bought i buy A lot of trees from brooks Did you Cathy cathy and dave Um Did you have plugs or bare root or i I think they were bare root i’m not sure Now those have been in the ground two Years Yeah doug’s take off like well that’s What i was saying they think those Things really take off But price wise what do you get for them Compared to a noble oh we sell dugs for About oh probably I think around We start probably at 50 And go up to Eight foot or maybe we get sixty sixty Three dollars for an eight foot sixty Five dollars for an eight foot dug I’d have to actually look Now this horse tail comes in here But horsetail is not A wetlands plant the boy is sure grows And i’ve come down here and mowed this Out a little bit Thanks for joining me on the planet in Homestead where christmas trees are my Business teaching and cleaning Horticulture is my job and outdoor Projects are my passion
