Merry Christmas from The Rocks Estate

We’re thankful once again this year for all the folks who have visited The Rocks or ordered online during the Christmas tree season. Knowing there are trees from The Rocks emanating holiday cheer in homes throughout New England and beyond makes our holidays even brighter!

For the last minute shoppers and tree trimmers out there, The Rocks Estate will remain open right up to Christmas Eve. Our gift shop and the Rocks Marketplace are open daily from 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. through December 23^rd and filled with unique gifts and plenty of items for decking the halls. Christmas trees may be purchased at The Rocks as late as Christmas Eve, December 24^th.  

From all of us at The Rocks ~ Merry Christmas, everyone!

Last week for online Christmas tree orders at The Rocks ~ and final weekend for Green Santa and wagon rides, too!

Christmas is just two weeks away, and we’re in the full swing of the holidays at The Rocks Estate...

If you’re planning to order a Christmas tree through our online shop, this is your last week to do so! If you live outside of New England, place your order by this Thursday, December 13^th, to ensure holiday delivery. If you live within the region, the ordering deadline is next Tuesday, December 18^th.

The Rocks’ own Green Santa will make his final appearance of the holiday season this Saturday, December 15^th. Santa will be at the farm from 10:30 a.m. through 3 o’clock and will be handing out Christmas tree seedlings to all the good boys and girls who visit. Our horse teams will be also be tacked up and ready to give wagon rides both days this weekend. Visitors are encouraged to make reservations for the horse-drawn wagon rides through the farm.

For more details on what’s happening at The Rocks, please visit our online calendar.

For all you last-minute shoppers out there, our gift shop and the Rocks Marketplace will be open daily, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., right through December 23^rd, and the shelves are stocked with wonderful and unique items for everyone on your list!

Tree trimming tips from The Rocks

There are as many ways to trim a tree as there are Christmas trees. There are sparkling  trees, color-themed trees, and trees filled with a hodgepodge of cherished family ornaments. Tinsel, garland, white lights, colored lights. Topped with a star or an angel or Santa Claus.

The beauty of a Christmas tree is really in the eye – and the heart – of the beholder.

If you want to add a fresh, personal touch to your tree this Christmas, homemade ornaments are fun to make and can be eco-friendly, too. A few ideas:

* Snowflakes cut from recycled paper (plain, colored, or patterned)

* Holiday ribbons tied to pinecones (which could be natural or dipped in glitter) or around cinnamon sticks (which add a touch of spice to your tree)

* Old Christmas cards cut into shapes and hung with ribbon

* Garlands strung with popcorn, cranberries, and dried apples

The first step to a beautiful tree, of course, is keeping your farm fresh Christmas tree, well, fresh! When your Christmas tree was cut, over half its weight was water, so the most important thing to do is keep that tree watered. Here are some tips for maintaining your tree’s freshness throughout the holiday season:

* Before you set your tree in its stand, make a fresh cut in the trunk, about ½-inch from the bottom.

* Place your tree in water as soon as you can and make sure the reservoir of your tree stand stays filled – the base of your tree should stay submerged to ensure it does not dry out.

* Try to keep your Christmas tree away from heating sources like fireplaces, radiators, and heating vents – and out of direct sunlight – to prevent drying.

* Miniature tree lights (LED lights are most energy efficient) produce less heat than larger lights, and therefore less drying.

* Finally, when the holidays have passed and you’re ready to recycle your Christmas tree, visit www.realchristmastrees.org to find out more about recycling options. (Christmas trees should NEVER be burned in a fireplace or wood stove, as doing so can cause excessive creosote buildup and lead to chimney fires!)

Need more tree care tips? Visit the New Hampshire Christmas Trees website for more information. 

P.S. Just a reminder that the last day to order your Christmas tree online is December 12^th if you live outside of New England and December 18^th if you live within the New England region!

Holiday shopping made fun and easy at The Rocks Estate

Amid the considerable joy and festivity of the holidays comes the sometimes not-so-enjoyable task of finding gifts for all the good boys and girls on your list. Well, The Rocks Estate can help!

With two shops filled to brimming with holiday goodies and unique gifts (plus our super shopper-friendly online store), your holiday shopping at The Rocks will be fun and easy.

Our gift shop, located in the former electric plant building at The Rocks, is brimming with handmade wreaths, crafted right here at the farm and featuring a merry assortment of designs, from simple bows and ribbon to whimsical forest characters and adornments of berries and other seasonal flora. Shoppers will also find ornaments, fresh garland, birch deer, and Rocks Estate items in the gift shop.

The Rocks Marketplace, located in the red barn, is a showcase of goods from more than 30 regional artisans, from ornaments and pottery to homemade fudge and local books and music. Highlights include handmade Deeda’s Baskets, crafted by Vermont artist Linda Lomasney; jams, jellies, and soups from White Mountain Canning Company; and festive hand-poured chocolate pops from RHD Candy Company – perfect for stuffing stockings!

Both shops are open daily through the season from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. C’mon in and cross some names off your gift-giving list!

Of course, while you’re here, there’s lots of holiday fun happening, too. The Rocks is open daily through Christmas Eve for cut-your-own tree seekers, and we always have a fine selection of freshly cut Christmas trees in our retail lot as well. Weekends are chockfull of festive events. Check out our online calendar for more information.

Happy holidays – and we’ll see you soon at The Rocks! 

Making memories on Christmas Lane

Carrying on family traditions and making memories at The Rocks.

The holidays are filled with tradition, and at The Rocks Estate we’re honored that many families include a visit to the farm at Christmas Lane as an essential piece of their holiday season.

   

We’ve been growing Christmas trees for more than two decades, and we love to see new visitors each season, as well as the families who have been coming to find their Christmas trees in our fields for years – sometimes even generations.

Whether it’s the simple, joyful act of wandering through snow-dusted fields to find your perfect tree for trimming, a ride through the historic estate in one of our horse-drawn wagons, or the annual photograph of the kids in Stumpy Village, we’re happy to be a part of your holiday traditions.

Well behaved pets (even goats!) are always welcome at The Rocks.

The holidays are now in full, festive swing here at The Rocks. Weekends are filled to brimming with fun events, tree seeking, and holiday shopping, and the farm is open daily now through Christmas Eve. You can find more about what’s happening at The Rocks from our online calendar. 

If you’d like to share your Rocks tradition with us, please e-mail us at info@therocks.org.

We hope to see you soon on Christmas Lane!

The Holiday Season is ON at The Rocks Estate

We’ve already seen the season’s first snow here at The Rocks, and we are ready to open for the season this Saturday, November 17^th!

We have a full slate of festively fun activities planned throughout the holidays, from horse-drawn wagon rides through the farm to roasting marshmallows at our fire pit, along with visits with our own Green Father Christmas and two holiday shops filled to the brim with holiday accessories and unique gifts.

And Christmas trees, of course! Cut-your-own customers are invited to meander through our fields of fir trees to find their perfect tree. We also have a retail lot at The Rocks, with fresh-cut Christmas trees from large to small.

The Rocks will be open daily, from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. right through Christmas Eve. Wagon rides are offered November 17^th, 23^rd-25^th, and December 1^st-2^nd, 8^th-9^th, and 15^th. Green Father Christmas visits The Rocks Saturdays from November 17^th through December 15^th and will have fir tree seedlings for children to bring home.

Our Gift Shop and The Rocks Marketplace are open daily during the holiday season, offering an array of handmade wreaths created right here at the farm, ornaments, a plethora of New England-crafted items, maple syrup, fudge, and much more.

To find out more about what’s happening at The Rocks this holiday season, take a look at our online calendar. 

And don’t forget our Christmas Memory vacation package, offered in collaboration with the region’s best inns and hotels. Stay at any one of the participating lodging establishments, and you’ll enjoy a horse-drawn wagon ride and all the other holiday fun at The Rocks AND receive a Christmas tree as part of the package. Please visit our website for more information and a list of participating inns and hotels.

In fact, if you “Like” The Rocks on Facebook, you may enter to win a 2013 two-day Christmas Memory Package, comprising a stay at the Indian Head Resort, a beautiful farm fresh tree, and a holiday wreath. Check our Facebook page for details.

If you can’t make it to The Rocks in person, we invite you to visit our super shopper-friendly online store, where you’ll find a wonderful variety of Christmas trees, wreaths, accessories and gifts – all with free shipping!

The Rocks Estate is a beautiful place to be during the holidays… we hope to see you at the farm soon!

Rocks Estate Traditions & Trees for Troops

At The Rocks Estate, we endeavor to share the joy of the holidays with our customers. So we’re always happy to see folks return to The Rocks year after year to select a farm fresh Christmas tree, enjoy a horse-drawn wagon ride, browse our shops, sip some cocoa, and roast a marshmallow or two. For many of you, visiting The Rocks has become a holiday tradition, and we’d love to hear your stories.

If you’d like to share how The Rocks fits into your holiday season, please email your story to info@therocks.org.

One of our holiday traditions at The Rocks is supporting the national Trees for Troops program. Founded in 2005, Trees for Troops provides free, farm-grown Christmas trees to military personnel and their families serving both in the United States and overseas. Last year, Trees for Troops delivered more than 19,000 trees, and since 2005, the program has provided more than 103,000 real Christmas trees to members of our armed forces.

Trees for Troops is a program of the National Christmas Tree Association’s Christmas SPIRIT Foundation. Trees are provided to the program through donations by Christmas tree farmers and their customers. FedEx provides free shipping for the program.

The Rocks has wholeheartedly supported the Trees for Troops effort for years. Rocks Estate manager Nigel Manley is chairman of the national program, and in that role visited the White House when Trees for Troops was named a national finalist in the Joining Forces Community Challenge, an initiative started by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to recognize organizations that provide service and support to military families.

Trees for Troops has also become a community effort, with the 5^th grade class from Bethlehem Elementary School spending a morning each December loading some 400 donated trees from New Hampshire and Vermont onto a FedEx truck at the farm. The students tag each tree with notes of thanks to the service men and women who will receive them.

It is often said that Christmas is about giving. Participating in Trees for Troops is our way at The Rocks of sharing a bit of the holiday spirit with the folks who serve our country. If you’d like to support Trees for Troops, you may make a donation at The Rocks or through the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation. 

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 17^th.  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!

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 13^th 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.