How Lovely are your Branches?

With family in town over Thanksgiving weekend, it was super fun to hit up the local tree farm for some good old fashion tree hunting and create some fun memories together!  Wish we could have grabbed some hot cocoa and searched, but in 80 degree weather here in So Cal, it was more like iced frappuccinos with extra whip in hand.

We love supporting our local farmers when we do “live” for trees.  I have to admit, over the past few years we have gone “fake” due to travel, babies and cat indigestion of needles.  But this year, the hubby said he was hoping we go “live” and I am glad he did, as we found out it was the last year our local tree farm was going to be at this location.

The Peltzer Pines Christmas Tree farm is owned by Charles Peltzer, who started farming the trees with his father more than five decades ago. Peltzer Pines had eight farms 10 years ago. Now they are down to three – in Brea, Irvine and Silverado – the only tree farms left in the county.  Sadly, it will go down to 2 next year.

“The days when people had real Christmas trees are disappearing,” the Peltzer family said Saturday as they watched moms, dads, grandparents and little children arrive in trucks to pick their trees. The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the busiest at Peltzer farms.  Peltzer has fifth-generation family members working the farm.

This year Peltzer focused on Monterey Pine and Leyland Cypress, a non allergenic tree.  Both are beautiful trees, but our family was in search for a Noble Fir.  I am glad we had the chance to swing by and bid a fond farewell to a wonderful OC tradition.

We were then off to old faithful…Home Depot.  And sure enough, they were ready for us.  I cannot say enough about the quality, pricing and service at the HD tree tent.  Within a few minutes of arriving, we picked out an 9 foot Noble Fir for $88.  They wrapped it up right on the spot, cut of the base of the trunk, packed up our tree stand and loaded our gal on top of our car.   They even had lots remnants of tree limbs for me to create swags for the home.  No extra charge.  In addition to swags, I use some for around the manager we do in our front yard.

In the end, this year was bitter sweet in our search for the prefect tree.   But we were all too happy to get her in the house and enjoy that sweet holiday fragrance she shares each morning.

As for our freinds at Peltzer, we know they will keep growing.  A special shout out to them as they not only touched our hearts for the many years in this local lot, but I admire their support to our troops as well. They donate over 1000 trees to the Military bases in Southern California.