Lochsloy Acres Christmas Tree Farm
2017 Season Newsletter
.
It’s that time again. Aaargh, we’re not ready! Due to some family time demands, we are running behind this year. The trees will be ready for opening weekend but some other parts of the farm may be less than great. The grass and weeds may be deep so be sure to wear waterproof boots. Please be patient – we’re going as fast as we can.
This year, Lochsloy Acres will be open for pre-season tree reservations from November 3rd to November 21st. As usual, we will be open during the pre-season (up to Thanksgiving) every day but Tuesdays from 11am – 4:30pm. Our address is 5511 State Road 92, Lake Stevens. Our web site is www.LochsloyAcres.com.
We’ve had a lot of tree death loss this year – I think the dry summers are catching up with us. We’ve hauled out hundreds of trees already but you’ll notice more still out there. We just haven’t had time to take them out yet. It’s a good thing we have so many planted! Our selection hasn’t been impacted – yet.
So, what’s new this year?
The Doug Firs are plentiful and GORGEOUS again this year! Clearly, they’re a native species and deal well with the wet/dry weather extremes we’ve been seeing. We have them starting at 6’ with lots of selection in the 8-10’ range.
Grand Firs – Good news – we’ve tagged more than twice as many Grands this year as last year. We’re finally almost catching up with demand. Most of them are around 8’, give or take. However, the Grands don’t like these hot summers very much. Some have burn spots on the needles ranging from just a few to totally ruining the look of the tree. We tagged the tree if it looked good from a couple of feet away. Depending on how you use your tree, that might not be good enough so be sure to thoroughly inspect the tree you choose before you cut it. The wonderful smell is not affected though.
Fraser Firs – The Frasers are either extremely happy with our conditions or they dropped dead on us this year! We lost a LOT of them in some areas of the farm – good thing we have a lot planted elsewhere. The Frasers are such a light weight, easy to handle tree, we don’t mind if they get taller than the 10’ height we usually limit the other trees.
Nordmann Fir – It’s been a LOONG wait for these trees to grow but we finally have a great selection of these trees up to 10’. They have a longer, greener needle than the Noble but strong branches. They are also noted for excellent needle retention. Be sure to check them out – they’re stunning.
Noble Firs – We have a good selection of Nobles – about the same number as last year. We have lots in the 6-7’, 7-8’ and 8-9’ sizes with a few above 9’. The dry summers don’t seem to bother them but the wet winter/spring kills of lots of them each year.
Kids/Funny Trees – Sorry but we don’t have any of these this year. Trees that might have been kids’ trees died and turned brown instead.
Why would you want to reserve your tree early?
- Convenience - The days in November are longer and less busy with holiday activities. Plus the weather is often better.
- Time - The interval between Thanksgiving and Christmas is already packed with holiday activities, which makes it harder to find time to look for your tree.
- Selection - The first shoppers get the best tree choices. We will have nearly 3000 trees tagged this year, the most we’ve ever had. Bring your waterproof walking shoes to check them all out!
- Possibility of weather issues - Snow is a four letter word around here. It causes many U-Cut tree farms to close early. If you have a reserved tree, you can come get it even if we’re closed to the public.
When are we open prior to Thanksgiving?
Starting Nov 3rd, we will be open every day but Tuesday from 11am – 4:30pm through the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
When can I cut my tree?
We discourage cutting trees much before Thanksgiving. Even with plenty of water, a tree in a warm house is going to dry out. However, if you need to cut your tree early for some reason, we have the processing station ready to shake and bale it for you. If you’d like to avoid the post-Thanksgiving crowds, it’s an option to take your tree home the weekend before Thanksgiving and leave it outside in water.
If you reserve your tree, the last day to come back and cut it is Tuesday Dec 11th.
How does tree reservation work?
When you arrive, we give you plastic tape to mark your tree. You can also bring your own waterproof decorations if you choose. When you find your perfect tree, you decorate it, bring the price tag stub back to the barn, and pay for your tree. You will fill out a reservation card telling us who you are, which tree is yours and when you’d like to pick it up (if you want us to have it ready for you). We put your name on your tree and paint the stump to mark it as a pre-sale. When you return for your tree, we will give you the exact location of your tree (trust me - they all look alike after a while!). You cut your tree and bring it to the barn to be shaken and baled.
Can I reserve a tree after Thanksgiving?
No. I’m sorry but we can’t do this. Taking reservations takes a lot of work and once we get really busy, we just don’t have time to do it.
When will we close this year?
After we tag the trees, we determine our selling target for the year. We don’t want to oversell and have no tall trees for future years. When we reach the target, we close. With as many trees as we’ve tagged, I’m thinking we’ll be open until Friday the 7th but it depends on how many trees we sell in the pre-season. We have no control over when people show up and what they buy so this is our best guess based on history.
Tips for tree shopping:
· PLEASE DRESS YOUR CHILDREN FOR THE COLD! While it might feel comfortable walking from your house to your car, after you've wandered around the fields for an hour, you will feel the chill. We've pulled items from the lost and found and loaned our own jackets to wrap up children who are terribly underdressed. Hot chocolate can't warm frozen toes.
· No matter how sunny the day is, the grass will be WET. We’ll try to get the mowing done by Thanksgiving but expect the grass to be wet and deep. Water-proof boots are a better choice than sandals or even tennis shoes.
· Parking is always an issue on the weekends after Thanksgiving. Do yourself (and us) a favor and avoid these busy days/times:
- After Seahawks games - especially if it's a good game! (Go Hawks!)
- The first weekend in December - both Saturday and Sunday are incredibly busy
- If the lot is full and people are blocking traffic on the highway, we have to close the gate until the lot empties. Sorry for the inconvenience but this is too dangerous.
· After Thanksgiving, good times to come for easy parking and a leisurely shopping trip include weekdays (except Tuesday when we’re closed) from 11am to 4:30pm and weekends between 9am and 11am. During those times, we have more time to visit with you, answer questions and, generally, enjoy the season as well.
HELP WANTED: Once again, we have openings for a few able-bodied, hard working young people to work here this year. If you live close by and have a teen at least 16 years old who can commit to working every weekend day between Nov 17th and Dec 9th in an outdoor (cold/wet) setting, have him/her give us a call soon at 425-308-0355. Weekday hours may also be available depending on the youth’s availability.
We look forward to seeing you again this holiday season. Thank you for your continued patronage.
Mike Peters and Sheila McKinnon
Lochsloy Acres Christmas Tree Farm
2017 Season Newsletter
.
It’s that time again. Aaargh, we’re not ready! Due to some family time demands, we are running behind this year. The trees will be ready for opening weekend but some other parts of the farm may be less than great. The grass and weeds may be deep so be sure to wear waterproof boots. Please be patient – we’re going as fast as we can.
This year, Lochsloy Acres will be open for pre-season tree reservations from November 3rd to November 21st. As usual, we will be open during the pre-season (up to Thanksgiving) every day but Tuesdays from 11am – 4:30pm. Our address is 5511 State Road 92, Lake Stevens. Our web site is www.LochsloyAcres.com.
We’ve had a lot of tree death loss this year – I think the dry summers are catching up with us. We’ve hauled out hundreds of trees already but you’ll notice more still out there. We just haven’t had time to take them out yet. It’s a good thing we have so many planted! Our selection hasn’t been impacted – yet.
So, what’s new this year?
The Doug Firs are plentiful and GORGEOUS again this year! Clearly, they’re a native species and deal well with the wet/dry weather extremes we’ve been seeing. We have them starting at 6’ with lots of selection in the 8-10’ range.
Grand Firs – Good news – we’ve tagged more than twice as many Grands this year as last year. We’re finally almost catching up with demand. Most of them are around 8’, give or take. However, the Grands don’t like these hot summers very much. Some have burn spots on the needles ranging from just a few to totally ruining the look of the tree. We tagged the tree if it looked good from a couple of feet away. Depending on how you use your tree, that might not be good enough so be sure to thoroughly inspect the tree you choose before you cut it. The wonderful smell is not affected though.
Fraser Firs – The Frasers are either extremely happy with our conditions or they dropped dead on us this year! We lost a LOT of them in some areas of the farm – good thing we have a lot planted elsewhere. The Frasers are such a light weight, easy to handle tree, we don’t mind if they get taller than the 10’ height we usually limit the other trees.
Nordmann Fir – It’s been a LOONG wait for these trees to grow but we finally have a great selection of these trees up to 10’. They have a longer, greener needle than the Noble but strong branches. They are also noted for excellent needle retention. Be sure to check them out – they’re stunning.
Noble Firs – We have a good selection of Nobles – about the same number as last year. We have lots in the 6-7’, 7-8’ and 8-9’ sizes with a few above 9’. The dry summers don’t seem to bother them but the wet winter/spring kills of lots of them each year.
Kids/Funny Trees – Sorry but we don’t have any of these this year. Trees that might have been kids’ trees died and turned brown instead.
Why would you want to reserve your tree early?
- Convenience - The days in November are longer and less busy with holiday activities. Plus the weather is often better.
- Time - The interval between Thanksgiving and Christmas is already packed with holiday activities, which makes it harder to find time to look for your tree.
- Selection - The first shoppers get the best tree choices. We will have nearly 3000 trees tagged this year, the most we’ve ever had. Bring your waterproof walking shoes to check them all out!
- Possibility of weather issues - Snow is a four letter word around here. It causes many U-Cut tree farms to close early. If you have a reserved tree, you can come get it even if we’re closed to the public.
When are we open prior to Thanksgiving?
Starting Nov 3rd, we will be open every day but Tuesday from 11am – 4:30pm through the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
When can I cut my tree?
We discourage cutting trees much before Thanksgiving. Even with plenty of water, a tree in a warm house is going to dry out. However, if you need to cut your tree early for some reason, we have the processing station ready to shake and bale it for you. If you’d like to avoid the post-Thanksgiving crowds, it’s an option to take your tree home the weekend before Thanksgiving and leave it outside in water.
If you reserve your tree, the last day to come back and cut it is Tuesday Dec 11th.
How does tree reservation work?
When you arrive, we give you plastic tape to mark your tree. You can also bring your own waterproof decorations if you choose. When you find your perfect tree, you decorate it, bring the price tag stub back to the barn, and pay for your tree. You will fill out a reservation card telling us who you are, which tree is yours and when you’d like to pick it up (if you want us to have it ready for you). We put your name on your tree and paint the stump to mark it as a pre-sale. When you return for your tree, we will give you the exact location of your tree (trust me - they all look alike after a while!). You cut your tree and bring it to the barn to be shaken and baled.
Can I reserve a tree after Thanksgiving?
No. I’m sorry but we can’t do this. Taking reservations takes a lot of work and once we get really busy, we just don’t have time to do it.
When will we close this year?
After we tag the trees, we determine our selling target for the year. We don’t want to oversell and have no tall trees for future years. When we reach the target, we close. With as many trees as we’ve tagged, I’m thinking we’ll be open until Friday the 7th but it depends on how many trees we sell in the pre-season. We have no control over when people show up and what they buy so this is our best guess based on history.
Tips for tree shopping:
· PLEASE DRESS YOUR CHILDREN FOR THE COLD! While it might feel comfortable walking from your house to your car, after you've wandered around the fields for an hour, you will feel the chill. We've pulled items from the lost and found and loaned our own jackets to wrap up children who are terribly underdressed. Hot chocolate can't warm frozen toes.
· No matter how sunny the day is, the grass will be WET. We’ll try to get the mowing done by Thanksgiving but expect the grass to be wet and deep. Water-proof boots are a better choice than sandals or even tennis shoes.
· Parking is always an issue on the weekends after Thanksgiving. Do yourself (and us) a favor and avoid these busy days/times:
- After Seahawks games - especially if it's a good game! (Go Hawks!)
- The first weekend in December - both Saturday and Sunday are incredibly busy
- If the lot is full and people are blocking traffic on the highway, we have to close the gate until the lot empties. Sorry for the inconvenience but this is too dangerous.
· After Thanksgiving, good times to come for easy parking and a leisurely shopping trip include weekdays (except Tuesday when we’re closed) from 11am to 4:30pm and weekends between 9am and 11am. During those times, we have more time to visit with you, answer questions and, generally, enjoy the season as well.
HELP WANTED: Once again, we have openings for a few able-bodied, hard working young people to work here this year. If you live close by and have a teen at least 16 years old who can commit to working every weekend day between Nov 17th and Dec 9th in an outdoor (cold/wet) setting, have him/her give us a call soon at 425-308-0355. Weekday hours may also be available depending on the youth’s availability.
We look forward to seeing you again this holiday season. Thank you for your continued patronage.
Mike Peters and Sheila McKinnon
Lochsloy Acres Christmas Tree Farm
.
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
