Cut Your Own Tree – Long Island

I’ve lived by the Cut Your Own Christmas Farms on the East End of Long Island for fourteen-plus years and I’ve never cut a live tree.  You see, our cat (Tim) had a unique hatred for anything Christmas and knocked down any tree we had.  Eventually we found a wrought iron tree that he left alone.  This Fall he passed away and I decided to get a live tree for Christmas – with a root ball- and then when the Season is over we could plant it as a Memorial for our Beloved Pet.  Well, it didn’t go as planned.  But, it was a true experience.  My friend picked me up and the seven of us embarked on an adventure.

We drove the short distance to Lewin’s Tree Farm – and soon we were on one of the trams that were pulled by the biggest John Deere tractors that I’ve ever seen.  There was an area on the tram for the people and an area for the cut trees.  We had a nice ride to the scene of the crime.

We found a tree for my friend after a bit of a search.  The farm had a variety of types and she wanted a 5 foot tree that was more thin than usual because she was having over thirty people for Christmas dinner and dessert.  The farm lends you a hand-saw and everyone had a go at cutting it down.  The experience reminded me of growing up and going upstate with my parents and brother to harvest our own Christmas tree.  The house smelled so good and it felt good to be part of a tradition.

As we were bringing the tree to the tractor area, we ran into my wonderful financial adviser and friend, Gil of Peconic Asset Management.  I seem to run into him at many fun adventures.  I think he may be having as much fun as I do on Long Island.

This tree farm is very close to where I live and I have never been there.  Even if you are not buying a tree, this is a fun experience.  The tractor ride back was a blast.  We sang Christmas Carols and I was very brave and announced that I would be blogging about this day on virginiaslongisland.com.  The conversations and laughter were festive and fun!

Then we were off to the root-ball section to pick out my tree.  I picked out a cute tree that I thought was 4 1/2 feet.  It was really six feet tall.  The helpers got it onto a dolly and helped it towards my friends car.  Since there were seven of us, there was no room for the tree in the back of the SUV. And, we were told that because of the root-ball the tree was almost 300 pounds and would damage the roof.  (The fact that it was so heavy would prevent it’s lift to the roof).  I frantically called Andrew, my husband, to bring his SUV to the rescue.  Five of the wonderful and patient helpers had to really work hard to get it into the back of the car.  I honestly didn’t know how heavy it would be.

Imagine what happened when we finally arrived home.  Andrew and I had no way of getting the tree out of the car.  We had some urgent Christmas shopping to do so we parked the car in the backyard for the night.  The next day, Andrew tied a rope to the tree and the other end to an apple tree in our yard.  He then drove forward and the tree fell out to the ground.  We then decided to chop the tree so that we could get it in the house.  It was a big fail but I am pleased to have a festive tree that brings back my childhood tradition.  I will buy another tree – maybe a dogwood – in the Spring for the Memorial.  I have learned in my life that if you can shift a little, things generally fall into place.  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka and Happy New Year!  I appreciate your support of my blog over the past year.

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