Monday, December 8, 2008

Tree Farm/ My World

Sunday was cold but that didn't stop families from travelling north to East Gwillimbury to cut their own trees. My World boasts numerous Christmas tree farms and this time of year it would be extremely hard to miss the huge number of cars carrying evergreens south to Toronto or any of the large towns in the Greater Toronto Area. There's nothing like a fresh-cut (really, really fresh) tree for the holidays.

Each farm has a slightly different way of operating, but this is how one tree farm in East Gwillimbury works. In the largest photo above you can see a family hauling the tree they chose. They are dragging it from the field where it was cut to where it will be wrapped with string to protect the branches on its trip home.

Moving clockwise with the top right photo, you can see the tractor-drawn wagon that carries customers from the parking lot to the field of trees. The next photo shows one of the farm workers help the family drag their tree the last few feet to...

the homemade tree-tier-upper. (I don't know what they really call it.) Trunk first, the worker places the tree in the machine, then turns on a switch that turned the tree around and around as string wrapped the branches.

After a minute or two of tree tying, the mom carried the tree to the car and placed it on top. Then the family went indoors to pay, stand by a warm wood-burning stove, and enjoy some delicious hot chocolate.

To visit other blogs celebrating That's My World, please visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

33 comments:

Judy said...

These pictures and the one from Sunday remind me of my childhood growing up in Illinois. I loved the horses in the snow wearing their blankets.

Small City Scenes said...

Oh what fun. When I worked at a nursery that is similar to how we wrapped the trees. It was always fun this time of the year.

Love the collage--I still haven't figured out to do it--but I will. MB

Anonymous said...

So I reckon you got your tree last weekend too?

It's been awhile since I had a real tree.

This is nice to see. Thanks for taking me to the tree farm.

maryt/theteach said...

EG, a wonderful tradition carried out in modern day! I love the shots! :)

Jan said...

Thanks for the tour. Love the photos.

SaraG said...

Great post and BEAUTIFUL photo's!!
Take care

Anonymous said...

Being pulled by the tractor looks like a lot of fun for families in the magic of the Snow.

Sylvia K said...

Oh, what a fun post and what a fun place to be! Great photos! Thank you so much for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful shots from the tree farm. We have a number of them near where I live too. Although no snow on the ground so I enjoyed seeing yours.

Louise said...

When I lived in a more humid climate, we used to go cut fresh trees. We don't here because there are not many trees unless we have a couple of hour drive and they dry out so quickly in the desert. I miss the smell of a fresh tree! Nice post.

Anonymous said...

Family and snowy World.
Beautiful.
Congratulations.

Anonymous said...

beautiful photos!
and place!
have a nice week!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

EG: Nicely captured from your world. I lked to cut a fresh tree when I was younger.

MaR said...

It's a wonderful tradition. Love the smell of a real Xmas tree at home.
Great shots!!!

SandyCarlson said...

That's loads of fun. Thanks for sharing the joy!

Reader Wil said...

This is also a nice tradition and a lovely way to get one's tree. I have to get mine from the attic. It's an artificial one and more than 14 years old.

imac said...

Very beautiful photos and its nice with real trees for Christmas.

Cathy said...

I've never been to a tree farm. Looks like a fun time. Thanks for sharing!

Jane Hards Photography said...

I want snow this year. It has been so long. Santa Claus is right at home in this chilly landscape.

~Just Me Miranda~ said...

Very nice pictures. I've never done the cut a tree down thing, it looks so fun.

♥♥ Willa ♥♥ said...

lovely photos of people cutting trees,but I don't know if i want to try to have a fresh tree,maybe in the future.
My World#4

mannanan said...

That is just magical, cutting your own tree and in the snow as well. We have our trees wrapped like that but they are already cut and of course we don't have snow. Thank you fro sharing.

Anonymous said...

A great picture of your world, thanks for sharing. I hope you're keeping warm - it looks very cold where you are.

Larry D said...

Great photos, I miss a real tree at Christmas.

Lilli & Nevada said...

Oh i can smell that fresh tree, i think we have gotten away from the fresh trees with the more economical of fake trees. But certainly do miss the freshness. Still have not decided if i want a tree this yr or not. Find that i really have no room for one.

kayleen said...

I always thought it would be neat to get a Christmas tree at a tree farm. Thanks for sharing.

Paul Godin said...

Never seen anything quite like the "homemade tree-tier-upper". Thanks for sharing.

The Good Life in Virginia said...

enjoyed the post.

our way of selecting a tree is not quite as nice...we have a tree lot at our local Kroger market (chuckling)...though I suppose we could venture out some where.

have a wonderful week...^..^

Rose said...

I feel like a recording, but will say it anyway...this is another wonderful post. It is about like a story without words.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed this post. I love the smell of Christmas trees so I can imagine how glorious a fresh cut tree smells. When I was a kid we used to get our at the train tracks where they were right off the trains that hauled them in. I miss that. Maybe this year I'll get down there and just take some pics and get drunk off the aroma.
:-)

Becky said...

This is so much fun. We have the very same tree farms around here. Some even have horse drawn rides to get your tree.

Unknown said...

Oh this beats going to Walmart for the tree anyday! Lovely piccies

Arija said...

There is nothing like the tree you cut yourself. We get ours from the garden, cut on Christmas eve morning and being adored in all it's finery on Christmas eve.
Very nice post. Love your other snow and icicle pictures too.

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.