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For the ‘Twitter crowd’, let me summarize what we’re doing this year in a few sentences.  If you don’t understand or want more details, read the rest of the newsletter.
  • Appointments will be required – the link is below:
    • On this appointment scheduler, I need two KEY pieces of information to manage our process – the number of vehicles you are bringing (QUANTITY box) and the number of trees you want (NUMBER OF TREES question).
  • Trees can ONLY be reserved between Nov 6th and Nov. 15th.  After that, it’s ‘choose and cut’ only, i.e. find your tree and take it home.
    • NEW! - IF you want to reserve your tree and pick it up later, be SURE to schedule a second appointment to come cut it!
  • Dec 12th will be Doug Fir Only.
  • We are a U-Cut farm.  Don’t assume we will cut your tree for you.  We will if we can but staffing issues limit what we can do.
  • NO TRAILERS!  If you show up with one, you may be turned away if neither of the 2 trailer parking spots are open.  (BTW – if you decide to bring a trailer anyway, make SURE you are able to back it with precision.)

The long version…

  • Dates of operation:  We will be open BY APPOINTMENT from Nov 6th – Dec 12th. 
 
  • Limited Dates for Tree Reservations - We need to dial back the tree reservations from last year.  That was WAY too much work to keep track of all those trees!  We will allow trees to be reserved ONLY until Nov 15th.
 
  • Appointment Scheduler – This year, one schedule covers dates for the entire season.  The link is at the top of this email and will also be on the web site starting Oct 1st.
    • We’re still trying to figure out how to schedule appointments without under or overselling the trees we’ve allocated for this year. 
      • As the season gets closer and we know how many employees we have on any given day, we may increase or decrease the available slots. 
      • When we’re approaching our quota of trees (based on the number of trees requested for each appointment), we may need to eliminate any unfilled slots. 
      • In other words, don’t be surprised if the schedule changes.  Booked appointments will not change, however.
      •  IF YOU CAN BOOK AN APPOINTMENT, YOU CAN GET A TREE, even if it’s on the last day. 
    • Your response in the Quantity box on the scheduler indicates how many vehicles you are bringing to your appointment.  The scheduler will monitor how many vehicles are signed up in each time slot and close the slot when it’s full.
    • Your response to Number of Trees tells us how many of our 2021 tree allocation to save for this appointment.  Using this information, we will determine when we have reached our sales target for the year.  At that point, we’ll stop scheduling new appointments.
      • Examples:  If the grandparents and two of their adult kids’ families are coming to one appointment in 3 cars, Quantity of vehicles should be 3.  If they are getting 4 trees among them, the Number of Trees should be 4.  In another case, if mom and dad are driving separately to the farm after work with the kids to get 1 tree, Quantity of vehicles should be 2 and Number of Trees will be 1.
    • Please limit your COMMENTS to telling us what you’re doing, i.e. Reserving, Choose and Cut, Cut Reserved tree.
    • NEW!! - If you schedule a date to reserve a tree, be SURE to schedule a second date to cut it, even if you’re going to ask us to do the cutting.  (No guarantees we can do that – see below.)
    • We’ve allowed you to choose up to 4 trees with each appointment.  If you need more than that (e.g. need 8 for church decorations), select 4 trees and add a note in comments, e.g. ‘Cutting 8 trees total’. 
    • Note - The 15 minute appointment time is your ARRIVAL window to reduce the chance of a dangerous back-up on the highway.  Each appointment assumes roughly an 1-1.5 hours to find your tree.  No tailgating please – we need the parking spaces to turn over frequently to make the appointments work.
    • If you have questions, please ask.  We respond promptly to emails.
 
  • Trailers – We have no way to manage trailer scheduling and can’t guarantee you’ll be able to park or even turn around in our lot if you bring one.  Add to that the number of people we’ve had who can’t back their trailers up and you see the potential for disaster on a busy day.  If you MUST bring a trailer, we’d recommend scheduling your appointment on a non-holiday weekday when the parking lot isn’t as busy.
 
  • Covid Precautions - All of our employees will be vaccinated and we certainly hope you are as well but we won’t be ‘carding’ you.  Properly worn masks will be required for all customers inside the barn but not in the field.  There will be limited displays in the barn to discourage lingering.  There will be no hot chocolate served.
 
  • Barn Interior.  We are keeping the flow we established last year to reduce congestion and provide one-way movement.  Watch for the signage.  We think we’ll route everyone through the barn to exit but that may change. 
 
  • Gloves.  No loaner gloves again this year.  Please remember to bring your own gloves.  Regular garden gloves will be fine to keep the dirt and tree pitch off your hands.
 
  • Bow saws.  These will be available as usual.   You may also bring your own bow saw, reciprocating saw or electric chainsaw. For safety reasons, gas powered chainsaws are not allowed, as usual.
 
  • Wreaths.  We plan to have wreaths on display in the barn for purchase this year.  We will also take orders during the first two weekends (during tree reservations).  If you want something special after that (e.g. candy cane, large wreath), send us an email with your request.
 
  • Cutting Assistance – We will again be restricting the number of reserved trees we schedule for “We Cut” each day.  Sorry but the demand for this service on busy days has outstripped our ability to provide it.  Even more limited is our ability to do ‘on the spot’ cutting assistance.  (FYI – by law, employees must be at least 18 to operate a chainsaw.  Last year, we only had 1 qualified employee and we needed that person on the bench to straighten stumps.)  If someone is clearly disabled, older than us, or 14 months pregnant, we’ll try to help them when we can get to it.  Otherwise, please plan to get your hands dirty.
 
  • Employees – I’m sure you’re aware that there is a shortage of employees everywhere.  We are no different.  Plus, we’re requiring proof of vaccination which further limits our options.  Our thinking is that is being short-staffed is preferable to possibly exposing our employees to serious illness.  In addition, any outbreak among our team will result in a quarantine shut down.  That would kill our appointment schedule – NOBODY wants that!  Please be patient – we’re doing the best we can.
 
The Trees
 
I’m sure some of you are wondering how the trees are doing after this crazy summer.  All things considered, surprisingly well, I’d say.  We lost a ton of the seedlings we planted in February, but that impact won’t show up for years.
 
Caution – We tagged all trees above 7’ unless they had really serious issues.  Before you select your tree, be sure to walk all the way around it and assess how any heat/drought damage will affect your enjoyment of it. 
 
Doug Firs – These are native so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they thrived.  We had 4’ leaders growing on many of them (which Mike had to cut off)!!  They are positively stunning.  We have so many that we’re reserving the last day we’re open for Doug Fir sales only.
 
Grand Firs – Grands are an understory tree so we were really concerned how they would deal with the heat.  Fortunately, shearing took off most of the sunburn and overall, they are looking really nice.  If Grand is your tree, you have a plenty of gorgeous trees to choose from 6’-10’ tall!
 
Fraser Firs – The Frasers really suffered with the heat.  We lost tons of seedlings and smaller trees.  Some of the larger trees have interior dead needles which we hope will recover next year.  The good news is we have LOTS of Frasers that look great so there’s no shortage this year.  Just inspect your tree carefully for interior damage as well as burnt tips before choosing it.
 
Noble Firs – Soggy soil is a Noble killer so we weren’t surprised that they didn’t mind the droughty summer.  The surprise was how well they responded to the heat.  This a good supply of Nobles to choose from – wonderful color and great shape.
 
Nordmann Firs – Funny story.  The first couple of years Mike planted Nordmann, they weren’t growing well.  He stopped planting them for a few years until he could figure out what he was doing wrong and then started again.  Wellll, we’re in that gap.  After building a huge demand for big beautiful Nordmanns, the pickings are slim this year.  If you are flexible, we have a lot of other beautiful tree options. 
 
Thanks for reading this to the end!  In this short-message Twitter-era, we know what a challenge that is.
 
Hope to see you soon.  As always, if you don’t think this is worth the risk, we understand. 
 
Stay safe, mask up and be well!
 
Mike and Sheila
Lochsloy Acres

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There's a Christmas tree in there somewhere!!

Lochsloy Acres Tree Farm

 425-308-0355

5511 State Road 92
Lake Stevens, WA 98258
  
LochsloyAcres@live.com

Member of Puget Sound  Christmas Tree Association

http://www.pscta.org