Carter Christmas Tree Farm
...Trees, Wreaths, & Family Fun
Web posted
Family starts tradition with Christmas tree farm
Discount offered for food donations
By Valerie Rowell
Blaine Carter hopes his family farm will be where Columbia County families begin their Christmas traditions while also helping ensure the county's needy families eat well this holiday season.
Carter said he has planted pasture land on his family estate near Grovetown with several varieties of Christmas trees and will be opening Carter Christmas Tree Farm to the public this weekend as a place for guests to choose and cut their Christmas trees.
"(Traditions) have got to start somewhere," Carter said. "A lot of people probably have never done it before. It'll be an inaugural year for us and an inaugural year for a lot of people as well."
The farm offers Leyland cypress, Carolina Sapphire and Virginia pine trees grown on site as well as imported Fraser firs. Trees, 5- to 10-feet tall, are sold at $5 per foot.
Carter said he's offering a 10 percent discount for guests who bring at least two canned food items for donation to the Columbia County Cares food pantry.
"My Dad said we've been so blessed over the years, why don't we give back a little bit," Carter said. "It is a small amount. We eat a little bit of the cost, but it is well worth it. This is when they are in dire need."
Carter, a University of Georgia agriculture graduate, returned to the fifth generation farm in hopes of using the pasture land that had previously been rented for hay growth. He planted nearly six acres of trees -- 2,000 in different stages of growth.
The farm also is offering a campfire to roast marshmallows, hot chocolate and other refreshments and tractor-pulled hay rides.
Carter said he remembers the special time he joined his family to choose and cut a fresh Christmas tree.
"It did stick out in my mind," Carter said. "There was just something about taking the whole family out. I don't know, like seeing (3-year-old daughter) Libby run through the Christmas trees. I want families to come out, grandparents and whatnot to come out, have an experience."
Guests are welcome to cut their own trees or may have a worker cut their chosen tree.
Carter said his family, all of whom live in the property -- including his brother and sister-in-law, Branch and Tway Carter, and his parents, Ron and Elaine Carter -- will be greeting guests, selling trees and otherwise helping run the seasonal business.
"It is totally a family affair," Carter said.
The farm, at 656 Lewiston Road/Horizon South Parkway, opens this weekend. The farm will be open daily, except Mondays, through Christmas Eve.
For more information, visit www.cartertreefarm.com.
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(Web posted
There's nothing better than the smell of a natural Christmas tree to fill a home during the holidays.
Blaine Carter, the owner of Choose and Cut Christmas Tree Farm in Grovetown, said the key to keeping your tree green is hydration.
"Because they are essentially living things, they need water as soon after purchase as possible," Carter said. "Get them in water within six to eight hours after you buy it."
How much water your tree will need depends on several factors, including the temperature of the surrounding environment and the size of the tree.
"A tree can soak up to a gallon of water in the first 24 hours," Carter said, and explained that much of the weight of a tree is water.
"So it's important to check the tree often during the first few days to make sure there is water in the stand," Carter said.
Carter suggests checking the tree daily for the first week, which will give you an indication of how much water the tree is drinking.
Typical safety precautions will also keep your tree from drying out: keep away from heat and draft sources such as fireplaces, radiators and television sets.
"The Fraser fir trees we sell at our farm are shipped to us from North Carolina, where they are coming from a 50-degree environment," Carter said. "And then we are setting them up in 80-degree living rooms."
Hydration also helps keep the needles from turning brittle and falling before Christmas.
"The Leland cypress and Carolina sapphires that we grow on our farm don't shed needles as quickly as the Fraser fir, but it's still important to keep them watered frequently," he said.
Trees purchased around Thanksgiving should last until Christmas with the proper care.
After the holidays, you can dispose of your tree during the county's annual Christmas tree-recycling event.
Columbia County will hold Bring One for the Chipper from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 12 at The Home Depot on Bobby Jones Expressway.
The trees will be recycled into mulch, fuel or fish habitats.
Mulch and tree seedlings will be given away while supplies last to those bringing in their tree for recycling.
