In my many travels that come with this line of work, there are some places that I become aware of and tuck into the back of my mind and think, 鈥淵ou know, that might make for a neat story one day.鈥�
The Mason Tree Farm, nestled on some land between Hanley and Kenaston, is one of those places.
It鈥檚 hard to ignore the signs for the popular place, which are large and colorful along Highway 15 going east, and it鈥檚 the kind of advertising that owner and operators Bob Mason and Cora Greer say works the best.
Upon my arrival to their farm on a bright but crisp afternoon, it soon became clear to me; this is where Christmas is grown. Rows upon rows of trees; Scots pines, balsam firs, white spruces 鈥� all of them waiting for a home during the holidays and itching to have presents set underneath them.
And that鈥檚 just the tree aspect of the farm itself. I sat down with Bob and Cora in their barn, which has been turned into a type of visitor鈥檚 centre over the years. There are tables where kids can sit and work on coloring books, or families can sit and visit with hot chocolate and cookies either before or after they鈥檝e sawed down their own Christmas tree. A table full of recipe books, scratch-made syrups, condiments, cider, honey, and other goodies. A wall dedicated to roughly 300 photographs of the farm鈥檚 visitors throughout the years, and those are just the ones on display.
And to think, all of it came to be after a random comment by one of Bob鈥檚 relatives almost thirty years ago.
鈥淚鈥檝e always loved trees,鈥� said Bob. 鈥淢y cousin was up from Michigan in the late 1980鈥檚, and I had planted some pine trees just west of the house to fill up the space, and he asked, 鈥楢re these Christmas trees?鈥�, and I said no and that I hadn鈥檛 planned on using them that way. But he put the idea in my head that maybe I could make money growing trees.鈥�
From there, the idea percolated in Mason鈥檚 mind, and by 1990, he and Cora had planted the farm鈥檚 first trees, and they started selling them in 1998.
It鈥檚 an entrepreneurial idea unlike most farming operations on the prairie landscape, where you typically see crops and pulses being grown, but Cora says it was an extension of Bob鈥檚 previous history with tree-planting, and with the operation being very new, it was touch-and-go as far as success went in the beginning.
鈥淚f you were driving down the road towards Highway 11, where our land is, you鈥檇 see that Bob has planted thousands of trees in shelter belt roads in the field, so he鈥檚 been planting trees for years, and this is kind of an extension to that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n those days, there wasn鈥檛 a Christmas tree farm in Saskatchewan. There were a few people who were a couple years ahead of us, and one of them is still around selling trees, but beyond that, there was nothing. It was kind of learning as you go, make mistakes as you go, and work together with the people who were planning to sell Christmas trees.鈥�
Operating a Christmas tree farm for Bob and Cora also means encouraging others in their own ventures, as it鈥檚 not a hugely competitive field.
鈥淧eople will say, 鈥楢re you sure you want somebody in Dundurn to start growing trees? They might take your business away!鈥�, but we鈥檝e got more customers than we have trees!鈥� said Cora. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not really a competitive field; our biggest competitors are growers from outside the province who have their trees imported. Ours are far superior because they鈥檙e fresh-cut and they鈥檙e going to last longer.鈥�
At the farm鈥檚 biggest size, Greer estimates that they had around 20,000 trees, and these days, including seedlings, the farm is home to roughly 14,000. These high numbers ensure that Christmas trees will always be growing on the property for years to come. That being said, one of the key things needed in growing these trees is patience; seedlings are babied for a year in the farm鈥檚 seedbed to give them time to get stronger before they go out in the field, and from there, it鈥檚 around eight to fourteen years before you get the typical six or seven-foot tall Christmas tree.
The work that needs to be done before the public comes out to saw down their family鈥檚 tree is more than ample, and Bob and Cora enlist the help of university students who can give the couple four months of their time, as well as high school students from the Hanley and Kenaston areas who come out for the summer months, which is when most of the tree-shaping is done.
Bob and Cora, who鈥檝e been married for over 35 years, were getting ready to open for the year on the day following my visit, and they were anticipating another busy season. Greer says that there are customers who routinely show up on the first day as soon as the farm is open to the public, and Bob mentioned that three quarters of the farm鈥檚 tree business is done on the weekends. But it isn鈥檛 a mad rush where everybody comes and picks out all the best trees, as there is the odd person who comes in late, or even an entire family who makes a stop at the farm to grab a tree before heading down to the cottage at Lake Diefenbaker.
When selecting a Christmas tree, Bob and Cora have learned that everybody is different. What some may see as an imperfect tree may be just the one that gets picked, owing to the adage that you can鈥檛 judge a book by its cover.
Of course, being the farmers of real Christmas trees, the couple is adamant that 鈥榞oing fresh鈥� over a store-bought plastic tree is the way to go, including the environmental benefits.
鈥淭his one is going to bio-degrade and go back into the soil in one way or another,鈥� said Cora, gesturing to the decorated tree in the barn. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to be sitting in a landfill when it鈥檚 finished after being used for years and years. It鈥檚 also been out in the environment and cleaning the air. I think it works out to one tree cleans the air for 18 people a year.鈥�
Once you get your tree home after cutting it down, proper maintenance is how you make it last for the duration of the holidays.
鈥淭he key is fresh cut, so if you鈥檙e not putting it up right away, take a quarter inch off the bottom,鈥� said Cora. 鈥淲hat happens is it starts to seal over. It鈥檚 like when you cut your finger and get a scab on it, that鈥檚 the same thing with a tree; it scabs over. So you have to give it a fresh cut so it can drink, and make sure you never run out of water. No heat either.鈥�
Cora says the biggest challenge in this line of work is the unpredictability of the weather system, which brings its own set of problems, while Bob says new tree growers don鈥檛 take into account the other elements in the dirt that can make or break how effective your soil is for growing.
鈥淐limate is probably the biggest thing,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never had pests in our trees until the last couple of years because it鈥檚 been this warming environment where we don鈥檛 have colder winters that kill off pests that are starting to come in. That may be a bigger concern if it continues to keep warming.鈥�
鈥淚 think one of the biggest problems that beginning growers have is weed competition,鈥� added Bob. 鈥淟ittle baby trees just cannot compete very well with the weeds for moisture or nutrients, or even sunlight if the weeds get big enough. That puts a lot of young growers out of business because they don鈥檛 think of that, keeping the weeds under control. There are chemicals that can do that, and we don鈥檛 use them here, as we use plastic mulch in the trees, as well as flax straw as mulch.鈥�
Cora says that a family鈥檚 experience at the farm varies from group to group; a couple of guys might just spend five or ten minutes out in the field before they come back with a tree, or entire families will make a day of it.
鈥淔or most people, it鈥檚 all about the hunt,鈥� said Cora. 鈥淭hey drive up and down the roads, and it鈥檚 all, 鈥楾his one! Oh no, THIS one!鈥� They come in here when they arrive, and we give them a map that is color-coded that shows where the pines, balsams and firs are. A lot of people just park over here and walk through the tree field, especially when it鈥檚 a nice day. At a busy time, I think families say, 鈥極K, we鈥檙e gonna go out and this is going to be family time and we鈥檙e gonna have fun鈥�.鈥�
For Greer, it鈥檚 the busy part of the season that she enjoys, while Mason is more into the growing and nurturing part of the tree-growing process behind the scenes.
鈥淚 prefer the growing of the trees myself,鈥� said Bob. 鈥淚 do like selling them, but in all honesty, I鈥檓 getting tired of it. There鈥檚 also the procedure of getting ready to sell them, and doing things like changing all our signs, doing all the printing, getting things ready around here.鈥�
鈥淩ight now, selling the trees,鈥� said Cora, on the best part of running the tree farm. 鈥淧eople are happy when they come, and it鈥檚 a good time of the year. We get to know our customers, and sometimes we鈥檒l sit down and have hot chocolate together, and get to know each other and our families.鈥�
After learning of the tree farm鈥檚 background and history, Bob took me on a walking tour of the property, and his knowledge on all the little intricacies of what makes a certain tree stand out, whether it鈥檚 a balsam fir or a white spruce, reaffirms that he鈥檚 an expert on what people may want to look for when they visit the farm to pick out which tree will be standing up in their homes. And after taking a stroll around the seemingly-endless rows of hundreds of trees, I can honestly tell you that the air never smelled cleaner or fresher. It鈥檚 the smell 鈥� and the sight 鈥� of Christmas itself.
Yes, this is indeed the kind of place that one or an entire family should commit at least an hour or two to fully experience. If nothing else, even if you leave without a tree, the Mason Christmas Tree Farm is unlike almost any other place on the rural Saskatchewan landscape, and you end up leaving the farm feeling even more excited about the oncoming holiday season.
听
