Bretzfelder Series begins with Ms. Barb’s Nature Songs

Ms. Barb and Ms. Woodchuck  - Chris Whiton photo

This week marks the start of August, which means the summer session of the Bretzfelder Park Family Educational Series kicks off Wednesday!

Local naturalist and musician Barb Desroches begins the Bretzfelder series with her wonderfully entertaining and informative performance of Ms.Barb’s Nature Songs. Barb’s original music is packed with fun facts about the wildlife around us. She’ll bring along her animal puppet friends to help her entertain and inform.

Barb’s music is geared toward children aged 3 years and older, who will be encouraged to sing along. The fun starts at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, August1. 

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The explorative learning continues August 8 with a guided tour of the Wildlife Habitat Trail of Bretzfelder Park.

The 1.5-mil trail, which opened last year, was designed to provide a year-round outdoor educational venue for families and local teachers. The trail traverses several wildlife habitats, including wetland, beaver marsh, spruce-fir forest, and deciduous forest. Interpretive signs along the way describe the various habitats and the animals living there.

The Wildlife Habitat Trail was developed in a collaborative effort between the Forest Society and Bethlehem’s Bretzfelder Park Committee, who work in conjunction to manage the park.

Priscilla Didio will lead the guided tour of the trail. Didio is a local naturalist and a teacher at Bethlehem Elementary School and helped design the trail’s interpretive signs and develop the trail as an interactive learning activity that appeals to all ages. For more information about the trail and the tour, check The Rocks calendar.  

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On August 15, the Bretzfelder Series continues with a program on the Owls of New Hampshire, as the Forest Society welcomes a naturalist and live owls from Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. 

The program will cover myths and facts about various owl species, as well as the habitat needs of owls. Check our calendar for additional details.

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The summer Bretzfelder Series concludes August 22 with a demonstration of wild lands firefighting. District Forest Ranger Steve Sherman will lead the demonstration, with wardens from the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands and members of the Bethlehem Fire Department assisting. The firefighters will demonstrate how they use special tools, equipment and tactics to fight wildfires.

Weather permitting, the firefighters will conduct a live demonstration with a fire at the park. More information about the demonstration is on our calendar.

Oh, Christmas Tree – Shearing & Pruning at The Rocks

Chances are your thoughts are far from the chilly days of winter as you enjoy summer… but at The Rocks Estate, Christmas and Christmas trees are always on our minds!

Trimming the top...

In July and August our staff is busy in the field, basal pruning and shearing our thousands of fir trees by hand. Pruning and shearing help ensure that our trees grow into the lovely symmetrical Christmas trees our customers look for come the holidays.

We start shearing – shaping each tree by trimming its sides, and cutting buds from the top whorl to prevent multiple top branches – the first week of July. With more than 50,000 trees growing in our fields, it takes us all summer, right through to September, to complete this job.  

...and the bottom.

When a tree has been in the field for three years, we also basal prune, cutting the lower branches to a height of 6- to 10-inches from the ground. This allows better air flow around the tree, which helps prevent disease. It also ensures that the lower branches are not broken or twisted and the trees are not shaken when we mow between rows. And, of course, it allows a smooth “handle” for the customer to place the Christmas tree stand come tree trimming time!

With a weather cycle of rain followed by high heat this summer, we’ve also been doing extra mowing around our trees. So, rest assured, we’re looking out year-round for your future Christmas trees and making sure they grow up fragrant and beautiful!

The Rocks Estate ~ A fun & unique place for group tours and parties

Looking for a great place to host a party, or a fun and unique group outing? Well, The Rocks Estate can help you entertain in style!

The Rocks is a beautiful, versatile venue for events and parties large and small. Whether you’re looking for a fun place to bring your youth group for hands-on learning about the local environment and agriculture or a picture-perfect setting for your wedding, we aim to please!

We welcome groups to The Rocks year-round and offer a variety of experiential tours and natural history programs customized to your party’s interests. This year we’ve already played host to a Maple Experience birthday party, a Girl Scout Troop visiting the area from Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and a group touring the North Country in their antique cars.

The Rocks is also a popular venue for weddings. With unbeatable mountain scenery, beautiful formal gardens, and a versatile space to host large and small parties, we cater to brides and grooms to help make their wedding day one-of-a-kind special.

We invite you to call us (603-444-6228) or email to find out how we can help you create a wonderful party or group visit. Or just stop by The Rocks – the grounds and trails of the Estate are open year-round, dawn to dusk, and exploration is encouraged!

Wildlife Habitat Trail tour this weekend!

The natural world around us is bustling with activity this time of year. If you’d like to learn more about the myriad wildlife habitats in northern New Hampshire, the animals who live there, and what they’re doing as we approach summer, join us this Saturday at Bretzfelder Park in Bethlehem for a guided tour of the new Wildlife Habitat Trail.

The 1.5-mile trail traverses several habitats, including wetland, beaver marsh, spruce-fir forest, and deciduous forest. Colorful and descriptive signs along the way explain the habitats and the wildlife living there. The trail was created through collaboration between the town Bretzfelder Park Committee and the Society forthe Protection of New Hampshire Forests, which owns and manages both Bretzfelder Park and the nearby Rocks Estate.

"My children had so much fun learning about the different animals and trees in the habitats along the trail, looking for signs of the animals who live there, and just exploring the woods," said one recent visitor to the Wildlife Habitat Trail. "And the adults in our group were just as enthralled with the trail and the information we found there as the kids were."

The Wildlife Habitat Trail is one of several trails included in the 77-acre Bretzfelder Memorial Park, which serves as a year-round outdoor classroom.

“The trail is a fun way for children and adults to discover and explore the natural world in our area,” says Priscilla Didio, a local naturalist and teacher who helped to design the trail and the interpretive signs along the way. Didio will lead the tour of the Wildlife Habitat Trail this Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m.

For more information about the guided tour of the Wildlife Habitat Trail, please visit The Rocks Estate’s online calendar.

Celebrating Wildflowers at The Rocks Estate

Summer tends to be fleeting here in northern New England, so we enjoy every minute of it! To kick off the season – and the annual Fields of Lupine Festival – The Rocks Estate will celebrate its 32^nd Annual Wildflower Festival June 2.

Pink Lady's Slipper at The Rocks Estate

If you’d like to learn more about botany, are wondering which wildflowers and plants are edible, or just love to roam the woods and enjoy nature’s beauty, the Wildflower Festival has something you’ll love!

Several workshops and tours are planned to entertain and educate visitors throughout the day, including birding walks through the historic Rocks Estate, a discussion on identifying various wildflowers, and the Floral Edibles workshop, where participants will learn which local native plants are edible – from fiddleheads and rhubarb to wild leeks and Johnnie Jump-Ups – and how to incorporate them into delicious meals at home.

Walks along the Mile Path, which is open only to guided tours, will also be offered during the Festival. The Mile Path meanders through the Estate, where the Glessner family, original owners of The Rocks, collected and planted an array of flowers. Guides will highlight the rich history of the Glessner family, who summered here beginning in the late 1880s, and the natural world they loved so much. The Mile Path walks are limited to 15 people per tour and fill quickly, so reservations are strongly advised. 

The Wildflower Festival runs this Saturday, June 2, from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. The cost for the day-long Wildflower Festival is $15 and includes lunch and all programs. A $5 discount is given with each lupine festival book presented. For more information or to make reservations, please email us at info@therocks.orgor give us a call at (603) 444-6228.

A whirlwind trip to D.C. - All in the day of a tree farmer!

Rocks Estate manager Nigel Manley took a whirlwind trip to Washington, D.C., last month, in his role as chairman of the Christmas Spirit Foundation (CSF), which organizes the Trees For Troops program. 

The Foundation was one of 20 organizations recognized by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden as finalists in the inaugural Joining Forces Community Challenge.

Joining Forces is a national initiative to provide military service members opportunity and support in areas including employment, education, and wellness. The Joining Forces Campaign was launched in April 2011.

The Trees For Troops program provides farm grown Christmas trees to military families serving at home and abroad. Since 2005, Trees For Troops has delivered over 100,000 Christmas trees. More than 700 tree farms contribute to the program, and The Rocks Estateis a proud participant.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the Trees For Troops effort,” said Manley. “I personally find the program to be a very rewarding way for farmers to give back to men and women who are giving their all for the country.”

Manley and CSF Assistant Director Amy Mills joined other honorees for a ceremony at the White House April 10. They also visited the Pentagon for a reception with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Vice President Biden.

Manley was in Washington for just over 24 hours, returning to New Hampshire in time to attend a board meeting for the New Hampshire Travel Council, of which he is a member. 

It's all in the day of a tree farmer!

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!