Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Fun tree facts – and making the holidays easy – at The Rocks Estate

The Rocks Estate is one of the nearly 15,000 farms growing Christmas trees in the United States. That translates to some 350,000 acres planted in Christmas trees.

Here at The Rocks, which also serves as the North Country Conservation & Education Center for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, there are 1,400 acres of protected and carefully managed farm and forest land. The property was deeded to the Forest Society in 1978 with the stipulation that there be a crop in the field. For more than three decades, that crop has been Christmas trees.

That means that at The Rocks we get to bring some of the magic of Christmas to our customers, all while we’re helping to preserve open space in a beautiful part of the state and maintain important wildlife habitat

Here are a few more fun Christmas tree facts
*    *  The tradition of decorating evergreens at Christmastime was introduced in the United States in the 1800s and evolved quickly from tabletop-sized trees to the floor-to-ceiling trees we typically trim today.
      *  Christmas trees, taken randomly from forests, were sold commercially in the U.S. beginning around 1850.
      *   Franklin Pierce, the only U.S. President to hail from New Hampshire, introduced the first Christmas tree to the White House in 1853. 
          *   The first Christmas tree farm was planted in 1901 in New Jersey.
      *   It can take 15 years to grow a Christmas tree from seed to the typical height of 6- to 7-feet. (At The Rocks, we plant seedlings when they are 4 or 5 years old and tend them for the next 6 to 9 years before they are harvested. Each of our more than 50,000 trees is hand-pruned each summer for optimal shaping.)
      *   For every real Christmas tree harvested from a farm, up to 3 seedlings are planted the following year. 
      *   Over 100,000 people are employed at tree farms in the United States. 
      *   More than 25 million real Christmas trees are sold nationally each year.

At The Rocks we strive to grow beautiful trees – and to help make your holidays carefree and festive.

At our super shopper-friendly online shop, you may order your Christmas tree now and select a delivery date that suits your schedule for decking the halls. You’ll also find tree accessories in the online shop to further ease your tree trimming efforts. Our easy-peasy Christmas tree stand makes setting up your tree a cinch – just be sure to ask us to pre-drill your tree. We think this stand is so great that we offer it to our customers at cost – and shipping is free on this and all online items! If you’re tired of crawling under your decorated tree to keep it watered, check out our watering spout for easy watering through the holidays.

Beary Merry wreath
We also offer an array of beautiful, handmade wreaths, both online and at the farm. Our wreath decorators create new designs each season to complement our stock of favorites. You can see one of our wreath makers at work in this video
Take a peek at our online wreath shop to see our selection, which ranges from our Just a Bow wreath to our popular Frugal Yankee, the whimsical Beary Merry Christmas wreath, and the all new Snowflake wreath. We also offer wreath hangers and beautiful garlands in lengths from 10 to 40 feet.

Important dates at The Rocks:
If you’d like to tag-your-own tree and get in on our gaudiest tree contest, this weekend (October 20th-21st) is your last chance!
The Rocks opens for cut-your-own Christmas tree season November 17th.  The farm and shops will be open daily (except for Thanksgiving Day) through Christmas Eve, with plenty of festive fun planned for the season.
So, come for the day, or make a weekend of it. We’ll see you at The Rocks!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Jumpstart your holidays at The Rocks’ easy online shop


At The Rocks Estate, it’s never too early to start thinking about Christmas. In fact, we think about the holidays all year ‘round. If you’re hoping to cross a few things off your holiday to-do list early, we can help!

The Rocks has a new, super shopper-friendly online store this year, and we’re ready to take your order – for a Christmas tree, wreaths, accessories, ornaments, even maple syrup!

When you order a Christmas tree or wreath from The Rocks’ online shop, you may choose a date for delivery – so you can order your perfect Christmas tree today and ask us to ship it any time between November 13th and the week before Christmas. With a few minutes and a couple of mouse clicks, you can order the holidays now, and we’ll deliver right to your doorstep!

Online Rocks Estate shoppers may create holiday wish lists and add multiple shipping addresses. And all items include FREE shipping!

The Rocks online shop features farm fresh Christmas trees in a variety of sizes. This year, based on customer demand, we’ve added a Victorian Christmas tree – with a more open branch structure, reminiscent of the trees trimmed in yesteryear.

“Each tree’s going to be slightly different,” says Rocks Estate manager Nigel Manley. “It’s definitely like what they’d have had in Victorian times, but even 25 years ago, Christmas trees were like this.”

You’ll also find an array of wreaths, all handmade by our farm staff, and all the holiday decorating accessories you’ll need, along with ornaments like this year’s New Hampshire Christmas tree ornament, featuring one of our favorite local animals – the moose.

Ah, hassle-free, fun, easy shopping at The Rocks’ online shop. Just think of it as an early holiday gift!

Want to see how we select our mail order trees? Check out this video to see Nigel tagging trees in the field at The Rocks.