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:

Fall Flavors

Autumn has brought cooler, wetter weather and it feels like everything around us is breathing a sigh of relief.  Summer is rich, but after so much heat and growth, everything seems kind of tired now and ready for a rest.   We love this time of year; the smells, the colors, the chill.  Going outside is invigorating and Craig gets our wood stove up and running so that coming back inside is cozy and welcoming.  Something about this time of year reminds me of that ease I feel when I've done everything I need to do for the day and have a few minutes to relax before I go to sleep.  

One of our young apple trees was colonized by ladybugs, so almost every apple needed to have its residents relocated back onto the tree:

I hope the colony winters through so they can keep the aphids at bay next year.  I wonder why they didn't find the huge aphid mass on the broccoli in the garden.  Apparently they like Fuji apple aphids even if I've never seen one:

Young and fluffy:

Mantis on mums:

This ladybug seemed quite happy on the squash:

Ladybug toes!

After a heavy rain we were treated to a visit from this large frog:

And this small snake:

Watching a storm roll in:

The big pileated woodpeckers have been very active (and noisy) lately, happily gorging themselves on apples.  I have tried many times but still haven't gotten a great photo of one, but even hiding behind many leaves they are lovely:

First potato harvest all cleaned and ready to cook:

Pink and blue:

This bald eagle came to roost at the top of the tallest tree down at our favorite pumpkin farm:

This is handheld and zoomed in 50 - 100x from very far away in light that was beginning to fade.  I was lucky to get a couple shots that are more or less in focus:

We were just talking about how we haven't seen an owl in a while and how they often show up this time of year.  This great horned owl was hooting very noisily for quite some time from the top of one of a huge fir, then silently flew away:

You can get a better idea of how big it is when I zoom out a bit.  It is perched on top of the leftmost tree in the photo, at the edge of the forest.

A nice fall harvest: eggplant, squash, zucchini, kale, tomatoes, beets, cucumbers, strawberries, flowers, and our teeny tiny carrots:

One of our last colorful harvests:

The final garden crops:  the last of the potatoes and chard.  Actually, there are still two cucumbers growing but the jury is out on whether or not they'll actually ripen.  Either way, we are thrilled with what our garden provided this year:

And the last of the orchard produce:  persimmons, one of my favorites.

Tux still enjoys his walks and going out to bark at anything in the sky that is suspicious, like planes, birds, clouds, the moon, or the sun:

And Craig, enjoying the warm fire after a cold day out with the chainsaw cutting and splitting the deadwood so we can be cozy: