Before I get into it, I'd like to thank of all the crew who have battled by my side over the years. We've created so much together! Never has it become more clear how fortunate I've been to have the greatest employees!
FARM WORK:
Yes, the never ending chores of work and life. After losing some weeks battling kidney stones on both sides for a torturous 26 days in June, the month of July has been a pleasant grind. The crew and I have been finishing our trimming work on the trees and hustling to get the fields cleaned up and looking sharp.
With 4 months left to go before season the trees still have some time left to grow and fill in after this trimming. I always think of the earlier rounds of trimming(shaping) as setting them up for growth. Whereas the final trimming before season is when I look more towards the shape families will have when cutting and taking the trees home.
RECORD LOW RAINFALL this year has not been an ideal formula for exceptional growth, but the trees are doing well! It's our seedlings and smaller trees that always get hit the hardest from drought conditions because their roots haven't set as much in the soil yet.
There are still some fields with very tall trees well over 12 feet.
I'm also very excited to showcase a new section of 100+ Monterey Cypress that I held back from last year.
Remember, these are farm grown hand trimmed California Christmas Trees!
POTTED TREE DIVISION (NEW)
For a few years now I've been learning the hard way how to start a potted tree division. You see with tree farming, once you learn from your mistakes it still takes half a decade or longer to see results. Talk about a lesson in patience!
Finally, the idea is coming to fruition. Since the rainfall was abysmal and not ideal for planting too much in the fields, I took many of the seedlings and planted them in pots instead. They are relaxing in greenhouses this summer. And then planted even more with a custom built drip irrigation table to hold them over until I transfer to bigger pots. They are doing well and with a lot of hope, care and some extra luck they should be ready for rentals in a couple of years. Caught a beautiful monarch butterfly enjoying the baby trees too!
CHRISTMAS RANCH PUMPKIN PATCH (NEW)
AND THEN WE'RE DOING PUMPKINS THIS YEAR!!!
That's right, from October 1-31st we'll be having the Christmas Ranch Pumpkin Patch at our Thousand Oaks farm in the main sales area. Exotic Halloween pumpkins are coming and these babies will be the nicest pumpkins around!
We'll also have a photo area, with scenery set in front of the trees as a backdrop, to tie in the unique location of the tree farm with the pumpkin patch.
And when you visit make sure to check out our one of a kind SPOOKY TREES!
SIMI VALLEY LOCATION
Over the years it's been too difficult to have the Simi Valley location open during the holiday season and still give families the attention and atmosphere they expect at our main Thousand Oaks location.
Lack of electricity, entrance visibility, crew availability, growing demand at the main location and other issues have left me no choice but to make the right business decision and keep this farm for commercial offseason sales. This will free up A LOT more time for improvements at both farms.
Simi will be undergoing a lot of small improvements each year to have less quantity of trees, but higher quality and easier to care for throughout the year. (quality over quantity)
This location will continue growing a mix of natural 'wild' trees for movie studios, film and photography along with traditional shaped Christmas trees.
I'm looking forward to working my tail off to get both farms how I imagine them.
I've ranted long enough for one post so let's finish it with something gorgeous!
Much Love to all, bless you and this life, and don't forget to Keep it Real this Christmas!
~ Jeff Pine Tree