Acting
Governor Donald DiFrancesco joined New Jersey Agriculture
Secretary Art Brown, Jr., today at McLaughlin's
Tree Farm in Somerset to remind residents of the
Garden State that a Jersey Fresh Christmas tree
is the best tree they can buy for their families.
To prove the point, DiFrancesco and Brown harvested
two beautiful trees, one of which will go to the
Cancer Concern Center in Point Pleasant Beach and
the second one will go to the Central Jersey Oncology
Support Group in New and East Brunswick. Accepting
on behalf of the Cancer Concern Center was Don
Glazier, whose wife Sandy, who helped to found
the group, while Richard Sherwood and Meghan Coleman
accepted on behalf of the Central Jersey Oncology
and the Support Group. "Recent national events
have really underscored the importance of friends
and family and the valuable legacy family traditions
provide," DiFrancesco noted. "For many New Jersey
families, visiting a Jersey Fresh Christmas tree
farm and picking out a tree to harvest is an important
part of their Christmas celebration." DiFrancesco
urged families who still haven't found their tree
to visit the New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers'
website, WWW.NJCHRISTMASTREES.ORG, to find
farms near their homes where the entire family
can select a tree, the youngsters can chat with
Santa and young and old can enjoy seasonal music
and refreshments. Brown heartily seconded the Acting
Governor's suggestion and added some practical
observations about Christmas tree production in
New Jersey. "The Garden State has over 200 commercial
Christmas tree farms which produce hundreds of
thousands of trees," Brown noted. "Christmas tree
farmers treat the trees just like any other crop.
Christmas trees are planted, sheared and cultivated
for harvest in the fall. Wherever a tree is cut
or lost to insects, diseases, wildlife or other
factors, two or three new seedlings are planted
for future harvest." In addition to providing the
seasonal greenery we've all come to love, Brown
said Christmas tree farms also provide greenbelts
throughout the state that refresh the atmosphere
and provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife
and migratory birds. Christmas trees also cleanse
the air that we breathe by consuming huge amounts
of carbon dioxide and reintroducing large quantities
of oxygen into the atmosphere. Greg and Deb McLaughlin
hosted this year's tree-cutting event. McLaughlin
is the 2001 winner of the Fred E. Johnston Grand
Champion honor. This is awarded annually by the
New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers' Association
to the tree farmer placing Best in Show at their
Christmas tree competition which held this year
at the Middlesex County Fair. He has about 12,000
trees in production on the leased farm and, although
he's been selling choose-and-cut trees since 1999,
this season marks the grand opening of the main
fields. McLaughlin also offers Christmas music
and refreshments, wreaths, roping, and other seasonal
decorations as well as balled-and-burlapped trees
for those who want to plant the tree after Christmas
is over. Tree cutters will cut and bale trees for
customers (free of charge) or they can do it themselves.
The farm is open from 10 am to dark on weekends
from December 1 through 23. The 185-acre farm has
been family-owned for decades, first producing
chickens and eggs and later grain crops and the
Christmas trees. Although family records for the
farm date back to 1912, it has been farmed since
1862 and served as home to Native Americans even
before that. McLaughlin met the current owners
of the farm, sisters Melba Battin, Ada Ferraro
and Rena Marter, in 1991. They were interested
in farming new and different crops in order to
keep the farm viable for the long term. McLaughlin
and the sisters developed a long-term lease arrangement
that gave all parties the security of knowing the
farm would stay productive for many years. In 1992
McLaughlin planted approximately 3,000 evergreen
seedlings and has planted between 3,000 and 5,000
more each year. He recently helped the owners enroll
their woodland in the Forest Stewardship Program
through which they have improved habitat for wildlife
and planted trees to reforest some field areas.
The landowners have also put a portion of their
farm into the Farmland Preservation Program. McLaughlin
gained his agricultural experience by working part-time
during college on a farm. After graduating from
Rutgers with a BS in Forest Management and an MS
in Plant Biology (thesis focus on Christmas tree
production and culture), McLaughlin spent several
years as a Program Associate in Forestry for Rutgers
Cooperative Extension, doing research and management
of Christmas tree plantations for Rutgers and private
cooperator farms. The two groups who received the
trees harvested by DiFrancesco and Brown offer
a wide variety of support services to cancer patients,
their families and friends, ranging from help with
day-to-day activities like housecleaning and meal
preparation to transportation to medical services,
from yoga classes and therapeutic massage to emotional
support and strong shoulders. The Support Group
was founded in June 2001 by Meghan Coleman, RN,
MSN, APNC, to help patients and their loved ones
cope with cancer. Bi-monthly hour-long discussion
groups rotate from New Brunswick to East Brunswick
locations and offer comfort, self-realization,
education and emotional support. The Cancer Care
Center opened in September 1998 with a variety
of private donations and is run by an all-volunteer
staff. One of the Center's co-founders, Sandy Glazier,
recently passed away but her hope of providing
a strong support system for other cancer patients
and their families lives on.
TIPS FOR   THE
TREE HUNT
If you are planning to cut your own tree, check the "Choose and Cut
Christmas Tree Guide" issued annually by the New Jersey Christmas Tree
Growers' Association. The guide will help you find a farm that's nearby
and grows your favorite kind of Christmas tree, in addition to giving
you travel directions, the hours of operation, and any other seasonal
items available at each location.
| Remember
to dress comfortably and warmly. Christmas
trees are grown in fields or on hills and
mountains, so always wear low-heeled shoes
or boots.
Select
a tree with the height, shape and density
that best suits your needs. Think about
where it will be located in your home
and the kind of ornaments you have
(large and heavy or small and light-weight). |
|
Remember,
in the field, the sky is the ceiling so trees
always appear smaller than they actually are!
|
For
best needle retention, select a pine --
Austrian, Scotch, white and Mexican border
-- or a Douglas, concolor or Fraser fir.
Colorado blue spruce has very good needle
retention while Norway and white spruce
hold their needles moderately well. |
SETTING
UP A CUT CHRISTMAS TREE
Proper care must be given to all species of
Christmas trees in order to keep them fresh,
green, moisture?laden and safe throughout the
holiday season. If you're not going to set
up your freshly cut tree immediately, put in
a container of water in a cool, shaded area
sheltered from the wind. Before bringing it
indoors, cut off an inch from the butt end
to help the tree take up water more readily.
|
When
you set your tree up, use a tree stand
that holds one to two gallons of water
and fill it as soon as you set up the tree.
Keeping a tree stand filled with water
will prevent needle drop and prolong the
tree's freshness and color. Freshly cut
trees can absorb up to a quart of water
daily, so check the water level a couple
of times each day. |
| Keep
your Christmas tree from drying out by
putting it in a cool location inside your
house away from drafts. NEVER put it near
a heat source, such as a fireplace, radiator,
wood stove or television. |
|
Keep
your holiday a safe and enjoyable one. Avoid
combustible decorations. Discard frayed light
strings and those with worn spots and use only
U.L. approved lights. Turn off the lights when
you go to bed or if you leave the house.
 AFTER
THE HOLIDAYS
 |
When
the holidays are over, recycle your Christmas
tree! Many county and municipal governments
coordinate the chipping of Christmas trees,
but they can also be placed in your yard
where birds can use them as winter shelters
or feeding stations, if feeders are hung
from the branches. Some coastal communities
collect used Christmas trees to create
dunes that control beach erosion. For proper
Christmas tree disposal, check with your
municipality. |
SETTING
UP AND PLANTING YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE
| If
you buy a balled and burlapped (dug) tree
so you can plant it in your yard after
the holidays, keep it in an unheated, protected
enclosure, such as a shed, garage or basement,
or on the northeast side of the house for
several days before it's brought indoors.
This conditioning process lessens the physiological
effects of rapid temperature and humidity
changes which the tree would otherwise
experience. |
|
Before
bringing the tree indoors, put it in a waterproof
container, such as a washtub. To stabilize it,
put sand or gravel in the container around the
root ball. Keep root ball moist. A 5' to 6' foot
tree may take as much as a quart of water daily.
It's best not to keep a dug tree indoors for
more than one week. After its decorations are
removed, gradually introduce it to the colder
temperature by first placing it in a cooler,
sheltered area for several days.
 |
The
hole where the tree is to be planted should
be dug to a depth of about 18 inches before
the ground freezes and the excavated soil
stored where it won't freeze. When planting
the tree, don't remove the burlap and strapping
until the tree has been positioned in the
hole with the top of root ball level with
the ground. Then fill the hole halfway
with the excavated soil, cut strapping
holding the burlap on the tree, roll down
the burlap and fill in the rest of the
hole. |
If
the root ball is covered in plastic, handle it
the same way except that, before planting, cut
slits on the bottom half of the plastic to insure
drainage and root penetration. Water it thoroughly
and put mulch on top of the bare soil. CHRISTMAS
TREE TRIVIA
The
first Christmas tree dates back to 16th century
Germany.
The first commercial tree lot opened for business
in 1851 in New York City.
Top-selling trees include the Balsam fir, Douglas fir, noble fir
and Scotch pine.
One acre of Christmas trees produces the daily oxygen requirement
for 18 people.
For each harvested Christmas tree, two to three seedlings are planted
in its place.
Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the United States was first to
display a tree in the White House.
|
