Itty Bitty Christmas Trees

With the help of some great friends, today we planted 500 Christmas trees!

It all started in January 2010 when hubby and I were talking about ideas we have for our property. We noted that there was the potential for a property tax reduction if we had a tree farm.....and so began the research. (Even though in the end the tax component will be minimal, we've really enjoyed dreaming about how we could pull it off....we're always up for a challenge!) At 1st we thought we'd just stick them in the ground and a few years later sell a few trees. As always, I've come to realize that there's much more to it, and hubby still thinks it's pretty simple! Hubby has been doing the earth work prepping our land, and I've been hunting out the best seed sources and species for our geographical area and climate. I've been studying up on pruning, weed control, and pest management. We've both made calculations as to how many will fit this year and in subsequent years. Then as we spoke about it we realized that we wanted to do it ALL. We wanted more than 2 varieties and since they come in a minimum quantity of 100, we ended up with 500 trees of 5 different varieties. I've been a bit worried about how we'd get them all planted in just a weekend! Thanks to some great friends and family we were able to complete the task in about 8 hours! Amazing if you ask me! We were blessed with a mild and sunny day, and rain following the next morning. Luckily now I don't have to water them right away! They were planted with love and are off to a great start! : ) We're looking forward to watching them grow, and eventually helping to create memories for families during the Christmas season!

 The boys digging the holes! They're SOOOO Strong! (Really it only took 2 to dig most of the holes, but in this pic the auger was stuck pretty good and it took all 4 guys to get it out!)

These are how the trees looked when they came in the bag. SO green and healthy! 

Planting the 1st of MANY trees! 

Dempsey was such a great helper! 

More planting! Look at Dempsey...wonder where he's going! hahaha! 

The WONDERFUL helpers! Me, Kelly, Alaina, Shannon, & Talesa (Dempsey was taking a much needed nap during this picture!) 

ALL DONE! Don't they look SO cool!

Our new Orchard!

Thanks to my mother-in-law, we were able to go up and grab some free apple trees from a guy who no longer wanted them!
We're so excited for the fruits to come in the next few years!

Hubby loading the SUPER HUGE trees onto the trailer! We knew they were about 8 year old trees, but honestly I had no idea they were so large! Look how cute Pierce is standing there eating his graham cracker!

We had to cut quite a few branches so they wouldn't be sticking outside the trailer!

My SIL & MIL digging a few trees too! I love how my SIL always has a smile, even while doing manual labor! ;-)

The new Orchard!
We added 11 trees to the two we had previously planted

Me standing next to one of the larger trees. I measured it at around 11 feet tall! WOW! And the root-balls on these things were tiny. We're hoping they can grow stronger roots and survive! I'll be doing some pruning in the next few days to give them a little help.

This is one of three crabapple pollinators we grabbed.

And the beautiful spurs of the Cameo apple. 

I'm guessing it'll take 2-3 years of careful pruning before I let the tree produce much fruit. I'll be working to strengthen the root system and helping it recover from transplant shock.

Either way, I'm really excited that it's all coming together!

Earthwork!

When you have a husband who likes big toys and playing in the dirt, this is what happens on a random Saturday in March!

(Picture taken January 2009)
The area up our driveway kept flooding with water. (Don't worry, there were no fish living in the hole!) The trees were all diseased and falling over, so naturally they had to go!

The boys moving earth.

The finished product! Isn't it beautiful! Now in 1 weeks time this area will be filled with little baby Christmas trees! 500 to be exact...so all in all I suppose we do have a bit of "tree hugger" in us! ;-)