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.

The Rocks Estate is for the birds – and bear and deer and…

Bluebird atop a Christmas tree

We’re best known at The Rocks for growing Christmas trees, but there’s more to the property than neat rows of fir trees lining the fields. With some 1,400 acres of managed farm and forest lands, The Rocks is home to countless wildlife species, including turkey, bear, deer, and an array of songbirds and raptors who nest here or simply pass through seasonally.

Northern Goshawk

Earlier this week we were visited by a flock of bluebirds, who perched in the Christmas trees, pretty as any ornament. Killdeer are summer nesters in our fields. After we mow the fields to keep the grass low between our trees, we often see Northern Goshawks and Kestrels, which both assist our Christmas tree cultivation efforts by hunting voles, which can damage and kill trees by eating the roots and bark.

With trails through open fields and woods, The Rocks is a popular place for birders. So, if you’re coming to one of our tag-your-own tree weekends this fall, or simply looking for a pretty place to explore amid the blaze of fall color, bring your binoculars along. You might see something unexpected!

The Rocks Estate is the North Country Conservation & Education Center for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.

Tag-Your-Own Christmas tree at The Rocks Estate – and make it gaudy!

Dig out the Christmas tree decorations… tag-your-own tree season opens at The Rocks Estate this weekend! And with the varied colors of fall foliage popping, there’s no more beautiful time to visit the farm – and get a jump start on the holiday season.

The Rocks will be open for tag-your-own weekends from September 22^nd through October 22^nd. During that time, the two holiday shops at The Rocks will also be open, as will the extensive trails system on the property and self-guided tours of the interactive New Hampshire Maple Experience. As always, leashed pets are welcome to accompany their humans at The Rocks.

Tag-your-own tree seekers are encouraged to select a tree in the field and decorate it in their own unique style using ornaments, ribbons, and whatever else it takes to distinguish that tree as their own. The showier, the better – and easier to find come cutting time. Customers should return after the farm opens for the season, between November 17^th and December 24^th, to cut and pay for their tagged Christmas tree. 

To celebrate tag-your-own season, The Rocks is inviting customers to participate in a “Gaudiest Tree” contest on Facebook by posting a photo of their tagged tree to The Rocks Estate’s Facebook page. The tree with the most “likes” will be presented to that customer free of charge. Visit The Rocks Facebook page for details. 

The Marketplace at The Rocks and the farm store will both be open during tag-your-own weekends. The Marketplace features an array of goods from various New England artisans, as well as Fair Trade items, from pet goods and ornaments to jewelry and home goods. The Rocks farm store is filled with local maple syrup, along with jams and jellies, Rocks t-shirts and mugs, ornaments and decorations.

Whether you’re looking for your perfect tree, hoping to get an early start to your holiday shopping, or just want to enjoy the kaleidoscope of autumn colors and surrounding mountain vistas, we hope to see you at The Rocks this fall!

The maple’s gift to autumn: crisp color

The springtime gift of the sugar maple tree is the sap used to make maple syrup and sugar. In autumn, the sugar maple offers another gift: crisp color that stretches from golden yellow to brilliant red and paints the hillsides like a calico quilt.

There is, perhaps, no more splendid time to visit The Rocks Estate and the New Hampshire Maple Experience than during the color explosion of autumn. The Maple Museum is open through Columbus Day for self-guided tours that will bring visitors into a landscape of color to the museum and sugar house, contained in one of many carefully restored historic buildings at The Rocks.

Guided maple tours are also available to bus groups and those looking for a personalized experiential tour. 

As always, our trails are open daily, from dawn to dusk, for visitors to meander and explore. Smart phone users may enjoy the Mobile Tour of The Rocks Estate, which uses QR codes to share the property’s history, modern day forest conservation and management efforts, and information about the varieties of Christmas trees grown on the farm.

Speaking of Christmas trees… tag-your-own Christmas tree season runs weekends at The Rocks from September 22^nd - October 22^nd. Take in the fall foliage as you search for and mark your own perfect Christmas tree, which you’ll be able to collect and pay for beginning November 17^th, when The Rocks officially opens for the Christmas tree season. The two holiday shops will also be open at The Rocks during tag-your-own weekends.

So, whether you want to get an early start on your holiday shopping, are interested in learning more about the age-old tradition of maple sugaring, or just want to take in the unbeatable scenery of The Rocks Estate in autumn, we hope you’ll visit us this season!

Bretzfelder Series welcomes Owls of New Hampshire and Squam Lakes Natural Science Center

The Bretzfelder Family Educational Series continues this Wednesday, August 15 at Bretzfelder Park with a program on the Owls of New Hampshire, as the Forest Society welcomes a naturalist and three live owls from Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. 

Who calls in the night? Who glides through the dark on shadowy wings in silent flight? The program will answer these questions and will include a discussion of the habitat needs for the three different owl species exhibited. The Forest Society protects the places where these beautiful nocturnal birds of prey live throughout the state of New Hampshire.

This hands-on, interactive program is designed to engage and educate people of all ages.

Check The Rocks Estate 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.