As 2024 marches on, the family running Heritage Tree Farm prepares to celebrate their 10th anniversary.
Shanelle Lee, along with her husband Kris Lee and her parents Ken and Deb Weaver, founded Heritage Tree on a 15-acre plot in 2014. According to Shanelle, “It was always a dream of my mom’s to have a Christmas tree farm, and it was neat to watch it all come together.”
Located in Rothsville, PA, and officially opening its doors for business the weekend after Thanksgiving, Heritage Tree sells its trees on Fridays and Saturdays for just the four weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday.
Shanelle said that at any given time, there are about 10,000 trees on 10 acres of the farm, with around 1,000 trees available for sale each year. Blue spruce, Concolor fir, Douglas fir and Fraser fir are the four varieties grown at Heritage Tree.
“Fraser is traditionally our best seller. It’s the perfect image of what people have in their mind when they think of a Christmas tree,” Shanelle said. She is quick to add, though, that the Concolor fir has had more takers in recent seasons.
Concolors have the needle retention of Frasers, the long needles of the Douglas fir and can have the bluish hue of the blue spruce.
Whatever Tannenbaum tickles a tree fanatic’s fancy, the farm charges $14 per foot, with a minimum height of five feet.
Originally operating on a “first come, first served” basis, Shanelle decided to change that after being convinced by a crush of COVID-compelled customers.
“Everyone was home, and they all came at once. We sold out of trees in two days!” she said. This unfortunately left a number of their perennial patrons having to find their festive firs elsewhere.
Although only to the public for a month, Heritage Tree Farm takes meticulous care of their trees year-round. Photo courtesy of Heritage Tree Farm
Since that season, Heritage Tree has implemented a reservation system for scheduling a date and time for customers to come and cut their trees. Shanelle said that the reservation setup has helped keep trees available throughout their busy month while keeping the atmosphere calm and friendly for everyone. Visitors are welcomed with hot chocolate and homemade baked goods as well.
Expanding their offerings in 2015, they first offered wreath-crafting workshops on the farm. Shanelle explained that the wreaths sold at the farm received such good feedback from their friends, they decided to teach them how to make them themselves. The workshops use only fresh greens from the farm and a variety of Christmas trinkets sold in their on-site shop.
The schedule for the wreath-making workshops is posted on their Facebook page starting in October.
For more information, or to inquire about tree cutting and wreath workshop reservations, visit HeritageTreeFarm.net.
by Enrico Villamaino
