Christmas Tree Time at The Rocks!

Frasers and Balsams and Canaans – oh, my! Looking for a fetching fir to trim for the holidays? Well, it’s Christmas tree time at The Rocks Estate! That’s right: the farm opens for the Christmas tree season Saturday, November 21^st, and will stay open right through Christmas Eve. (Closed Thanksgiving Day.)

With row upon row of perfect Christmas trees, two gift shops brimming with unique finds, and all the holiday trimmings even Mrs. Claus could want, The Rocks is ready for the season! You’ll find wreaths and ornaments, skillfully crafted gifts from a myriad of local artisans, and fragrant firs perfect for any room.

On weekends, there are horse-drawn wagon rides through the historic estate. The Rocks’ own Green Father Christmas visits Saturday afternoons through December 12^th. There will be marshmallows for roasting at the fire pit, and Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country will be serving up hot beverages and other treats for hungry shoppers and tree seekers.

For more information about The Rocks and the holiday season at the farm, visit TheRocks’ online calendar. 

Sowing the seed(ling)s and other Summer Fun

Planting from a bucket of saplings.

We’ve been busy this spring at The Rocks Estate planting saplings and fertilizing all 52,000 Christmas trees we have growing on the farm. 

In April we planted 4,000 Fraser fir and Canaan fir seedlings, which will grow into full-sized Christmas trees over the next 6-9 years. Next on the to-do list was fertilizing all the trees we have growing in various fields around The Rocks.

Even with Christmas many months in the future, we’re busy taking care of our trees in the field nearly all year ’round! Later this summer we’ll tackle the annual hands-on job of topping and shearing the trees to ensure they’ll continue to grow into full, beautiful, well-proportioned Christmas trees.

There’s plenty of summer activity beyond tending to the trees at The Rocks Estate, too. We’re gearing up for our 32^nd Annual Wildflower Festival on June 2 and the official opening of our Wildlife Habitat Trail at Bretzfelder Park the following week. Check our online calendar for more information. 

We also have weddings lined up through the summer, as well as a variety of groups coming to the farm for customized tours and talks on topics ranging from formal gardens and local heritage to maple sugaring and the wildlife living on and around the farm. To learn more about the array of experiential tours and educational programs at The Rocks, please visit our website. 

As always, our trails are open in every season, from dawn ’til dusk, so come on up and visit The Rocks this summer – we’d love to see you!

Learning New Tricks

Rocks Estate Manager Nigel Manley attended his 15th National Christmas Tree Association conference last month, gleaning information on the latest tricks of the Christmas tree growing trade. Nigel, who is the NCTA director for the New Hampshire-Vermont Christmas Tree Association, was one of more than 400 Christmas tree growers from around the United States, Canada, Mexico, and England to attend the convention in Ohio.

Among the tidbits he picked up from this year’s convention – which he shares with his NH-Vermont associates – were ways to use social media and other new technology to boost marketing efforts, the latest news on the national Trees for Troops program, and information on growing the increasingly popular West Virginia Balsam (also known as the Canaan Fir).

“Only a few farmers from New Hampshire and Vermont are able to attend the national convention, so my role is to bring home the latest techniques for everything from pest control to marketing to share with our member farmers,” said Manley. “The information shared at the convention is important to our local Christmas tree growers. The impact for our local growers learning about these things is huge.”