Year End

It was a wonderful and very wet tree season, and we are so happy to have shared it with our wonderful and often equally wet customers.  Christmas Eve brought with it our first dusting of snow.  We are hoping that the cold and wet manage to give us a few good snows here at the farm, and much more good snow up at Mt. Hood.  2015 was quite such a hot, dry, and long summer, perhaps this winter will offset that in the other direction.   For now, we are easing into the tail end of the year, enjoying the quiet and peacefulness that settles in around the longest nights.  We are so grateful to be close to nature and I think our rhythms tend to fall in with that of the world around us as we always find that this is a good time to hunker down, rest, and recharge.  Some people like to welcome the new year with a bang, but we look forward to a quieter start to 2016.

Customer Gallery 2015

We are so happy you chose to come to Corner Crest Natural Farm for your Christmas tree and we hope you enjoy your naturally grown Noble fir.  The selection is getting thin this year in the 6 - 8 foot range, but there are still some out there that we think would be lovely for this season.  Thank you for sharing your holidays with us!

Click for Christmas Tree Season 2015 General Information

One final tree for the year, awaiting decorating on Christmas Eve by these nice folks who have made our last officially-open day a little brighter, two years running:

Make-Your-Own wreath was a big hit this season and we will offer it again next year:

All smiles despite the heavy rain:

We love to see our return customers year after year:

It's so nice to meet some new families each year too:

A little tree getting carried a long way:

 

Most families come for a noble, but it's always a treat when the Doug firs find a good home too:

Make-your-own wreath has been a hit this year, but I think she was the first to stick around to finish it in the rain rather than bringing the supplies home to finish it someplace dry and warm:

Sometimes folks who happen to drive by our farm are looking for something else, but sometimes it's a great match and we're so happy when this happens:

This tree was getting carried home on foot:

Happy in the morning is a great way to start the day:

Paco was all smiles too:

We were happy some friends braved the rainy day:

Sometimes one tree isn't enough:

Al and Paco were happy to get some apples:

The sun sets early but evenings can be a beautiful time to get a tree:

My Swedish friend told me that our trees are very much like traditional Scandinavian Christmas trees, just more local:

Such a nice family with whom to end the weekend:

Bubbles almost guarantee smiles:

And I couldn't resist sharing another picture of the cuteness:

Such a lovely Sunday to come out from the city for a tree:

It's not hard to guess who did the sawing here:

Wonderful to connect with good friends:

I'm pretty sure they will be putting the star on the top of this one from the second floor:

Carrying this one was not easy:

It was such a beautiful and sunny day:

Morning sunshine and a cute tree:

First tree of the year:

Christmas Tree Season 2015

The first frosts have ushered in our favorite time of year at Corner Crest Natural Farm.  We are happy to be opening for our eighth holiday season, selling U-cut Christmas trees and wreaths from our hillside farm in North Plains, Oregon.

We offer naturally grown Noble firs, including small trees for little rooms and very tall trees that are great for vaulted ceilings.  One thing that makes our trees special is that they are unsprayed and unshaped.  The branches grow in tiers so decorations can hang freely, giving it a more classic look which is sometimes referred to as a Layered Noble.   This traditional Christmas tree is a lovely way to highlight your ornaments, as well as a healthy way to bring holiday spirit into your home.  

This year will be our first year also offering wreaths for sale.  We will make them throughout the season so they will always be fresh, or you can choose the option to enjoy this seasonal craft for yourself and make your own wreath.  It is fun and easy enough that first time wreath makers can be confident in creating a lovely holiday decoration, and will hopefully enjoy the process.  We provide instruction and supplies, including boughs of Noble and Grand fir from which you can select your greenery.  All of our wreaths are unadorned, and constructed on 12" frames, so the finished products are about 18" diameter.    

We are a small, rustic farm on the edge of the forest, overlooking the valley.  We provide saws and twine as well as hot cocoa, honey mint tea, and candy canes.  We are a U-Cut business but are always happy to give you a hand (or two). We usually have only one or two cars of people here at a time, except on our busiest days so it rarely (if ever) feels crowded.  Most folks that come to our farm like to take their time hiking around and enjoying the view while they choose their tree.

Our trees are not planted in rows, but rather in the shadows of the older nobles to help the young ones survive the summer sun.  The natural growth also leads to more variety and character among the trees which can make the selection more of an adventure.  This year the record hot and dry summer was rough on the trees, many of which have some brown needles to show for it.  In another year or two, weather permitting, more of the young trees Craig has planted will have matured into the 8' - 10' size that is popular, but meanwhile the choice in that size range is thinner.

Each year Craig has replanted 2 or 3 Noble or Grand fir seedlings for each tree that was cut.  These young trees are the key to sustaining of our crop for the future.  It was exciting for us that last year we sold lovely noble first that grew from some of the seedlings that Craig planted our first year here.  This year we have more that are a good size for folks seeking a smaller tree, and we look forward to seeing Craig's plantings grow into mature Christmas trees in the coming years.

We lack the Certified Organic Christmas Tree label, but our Christmas trees are grown without sprays and artificial fertilizers.  We have found that unshaped trees seem less susceptible to pests and fungus, so they are naturally healthier too.  You can be confident that our trees will not bring harmful chemicals into your home, and that our farming practices do not put them into the environment.  In fact, farming Christmas trees like this is good for the planet.

Each tree absorbs more than 1 ton of CO2 in its lifetime and each acre provides the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people.  Live trees are renewable, keep plastic out of landfills, and conserve the resources used in manufacturing them.  Our healthy approach is also welcoming to wildlife and this year we decided to celebrate this by becoming a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat.

Here is this year's pricing information: Natural Christmas Trees: Nobles up to 6 feet - $37 6 - 8 feet - $42 8 - 10 feet - $48 Add $4 per foot over 10' Ask about Doug firs $10 and up
Fresh Wreaths: Make your own - $10 Freshly made - $20 We take cash and checks. Thank you!

We hope you come to share a little holiday spirit with us here at Corner Crest Natural Farm.  Meeting new people and seeing friends from years past is truly a highlight of our Christmas season.

Fungus Among Us!

Although most of the life around the farm and forest is settling down for winter's approach, this time of year is a boom of growth if you point your eyes downward.  Mushrooms in many different shapes and sizes are popping up in all sorts of places.  Walking around is like a little treasure hunt with all sorts of surprises, and some old reliable wonders like the giant amanitas that look like they come straight out of a fairy tale.

This vibrant ruffley fungus looks like it should taste like maple candy.  It wouldn't:

This little round one popped up near the barn with some cute spots:

Luck!

This one was tiny but a light shiny pink/purple color; so cute:

A whole little town of orange button mushrooms:

Slow neighborhood traffic:

I think a frog should be sitting here:

A small amanita bulb just starting to pop up:

Another that just opened:

This one was shaped so nicely, the only one of it's cluster not to have been munched yet:

This cute amanita was hiding among some baby Christmas trees near some others the deer haven't found yet:

This little cluster remained unmunched:

Each one of these makes me smile:

Including this one that was kicked up by the deer who ate the others but must have missed it:

This was a cute little cluster of tiny white mushrooms:

And these little salmon pink mushrooms were all over the floor underneath the tall Douglas firs:

Craig found one of these that he says are edible when cooked, as they contain a compound similar to jet fuel when raw.  We won't be trying them in either preparation, but pretty cool:

Here is the track left from when the elk herd came through a couple days ago.  They like to chow the amanitas even more than the deer, but they often don't stick around long enough to find them:

And looking down the golden leaf trail into the woods: