Oklahoma growers want their trees to be a part of your holiday season. By Mike Nichols 8 • Oklahoma Country • Fall 2008 While you may not have started your Christmas shopping and other Sequoyah County Farm Bureau member Matt Jarvis serves as vice preparations, a small group of Oklahomans has been busy since last president of the OCTA, and this Christmas season will be the second he year’s Yuletide with its efforts directed toward December 25, 2008. and his family will have trees ready for harvest. The 27 member-growers of the Oklahoma Christmas Tree “OCTA is working hard to promote Oklahoma-grown Christmas Association (OCTA) hope a tree from one of their “choose and cut” trees,” said Matt, whose operation is located near Muldrow about 5 1/2 farms will be the centerpiece of your holiday decorations. miles north of Interstate 40 on state Highway 64-B. Those producers should have more than 6,500 fresh, Oklahoma- “We’re all so spread out that we’re not really competitors. We help each grown trees available for this year’s Christmas season. other by sharing information and learning from each others’ mistakes.” Julie and Matt, who reside north of Muldrow, are members of Sequoyah County Farm Bureau. The Christmas tree growers can be reached by telephone at 918-427-5913. Oklahoma Country • Fall 2008 • 9 Matt’s tree plot occupies only a small portion of his 10 acres, but County countryside about five years ago after living in urban Fort Smith contains hundreds of pines and cypresses in perfectly straight rows for about seven years. stretching from the east to the west. “We decided to move to the country. It’s better for the boys to “We only had 100 trees ready last year, and we sold every one of grow up in the country,” he said. them. We’ll have 250 ready this year.” Matt is a native of Rush Springs, and toiled in the watermelon The Jarvis family always had real Christmas trees for the patches there as a young man. He relocated to the Fort Smith, Ark., holidays, and when Matt noticed an announcement for a meeting area after graduating from Oklahoma State University in 1996 with a of the state tree association he decided to attend. degree in management information systems. After attending the meeting, he remembers that “we decided to go He is employed by ABF Freight in Fort Smith and writes ahead and try it.” computer programs to support the freight transportation business. The family put in its first trees in February 2004. Their bareroot, “That’s my day job,” said Matt. “It allows me to come out here.” 6- to 8-inch-tall Virginia and Scotch Pines were purchased from the Matt and his wife, Julie, who is a nurse, and their three sons, Oklahoma Forestry Department nursery near Golsby. Leyland Cypress Justin, 12, Jonathan, 11, and Jacob, 9, moved to the Sequoyah trees now in the lot are purchased in containers from a grower near Little Rock, Ark. Gophers almost doomed that first planting, gobbling up the trees from their underground burrows and forcing Matt to become a trapper to save his trees. “I learned real quick how to trap gophers,” he remembers. Admitting that “we didn’t know anything about it,” Matt and his THINK YOU MIGHT LIKE to become a Christmas tree grower? family learned quickly by trial and error plus lots of reading OCTA Members of the Oklahoma Christmas Tree Association (OCTA) manuals, visiting with other growers and attending Oklahoma State welcome new growers into their fold. “There is room for more growers in Oklahoma. We’re trying to promote University seminars. the growing of trees,” said Matt Jarvis, OCTA vice president. “We’re One thing Matt learned was to abandon the Scotch Pines. They take working with OSU.” about eight years to mature, while the Virginia Pines and Leyland You can visit the association at okchristmastree.com and find Cypress are ready to harvest in four or five years. information about becoming a member and starting your own farm. The two-acre tree plot is a family affair. Matt does most of the Craig McKinley, a professor and Extension Forestry specialist at Oklahoma State University, works closely with the association and will shearing of the trees with a saje – a motorized, backpack tool with a host a seminar for growers and potential growers Nov. 8 in Stillwater. 6- to 7-foot-long bar used to shape and mold them into perfect He said the seminar will begin at 9 a.m. and finish at 3 p.m. on campus Christmas trees. Trees are sheared twice a year – the end of May and in Ag Hall, Room 014. early August – but if it’s really wet they’ll also get a “half shear” to keep Some of the topics to be discussed include the history of the industry, them in shape. species selection, site preparation, planting and spacing, early care, site maintenance, irrigation, pests and pesticide applications, shearing, Everyone pitches in to help plant new trees and work during the coloring, sales management, marketing, liability and insurance and holiday season, and the boys keep the plot mowed. “The boys are a lot record keeping. “Obviously, we can’t cover all topics in detail but I do plan to introduce each of these topics to attendees,” said McKinley. To register for the seminar or to obtain further information, call McKinley at 405-744-8065. Matt reviews information from the OSU Extension Service on growing Christmas trees. He put in his first crop of seedling trees in 2004 and became active in the Oklahoma Christmas Tree Association. Matt now serves as vice president of the association. 10 • Oklahoma Country • Fall 2008 Matt and Julie pose in front of the building that serves as Bottom: Evergreen Acres Tree Farm, located outside of their holiday office. They also sell tree stands, wreaths, Muldrow, has about two acres of pine and cypress trees decorations and candles made by Matt’s mother. planted. As many as 250 trees are expected to be Shoppers also are treated to free hot chocolate and apple harvested this Christmas season. cider while all children receive free candy canes. Oklahoma Country • Fall 2008 • 11 of help,” says Matt. “That’s the main reason we’re doing this, the boys. I wanted the boys to know how to work. “We plant in February and March. When the grass starts growing you need to keep up with mowing and spraying. That time is really busy, but for the most part growing trees is not an everyday job.” The area generally receives ample rainfall so they don’t irrigate, and the fertile soil has yet to require any fertilizer. But there are herbicides IF YOU AND YOUR FAMILY PLAN to visit a Christmas tree farm to and pesticides that must be applied; however, Matt has a bunch of free- select your holiday tree, the Oklahoma Christmas Tree Association range chickens that help keep pesticide applications to a minimum. (OCTA) and the National Christmas Tree Association offer these hints for “They grow pretty fast,” said Matt, “about a foot per year. You don’t selecting your tree. want them to grow too fast, so you have to restrict the top growth and • Measure the ceiling height in the room where the tree will be shape them. They just don’t grow on their own. I wish it was that easy.” displayed. Trees in a field tend to look small when the sky is the ceiling. But, he is quick to add that “it’s relaxing to get out there after sitting • Measure the width of the area of the room where the tree will be all day in front of a computer.” displayed. Many trees on tree farms are trimmed to an 80 percent taper, One of the last chores he’ll do before the Christmas season is to so a tree that’s 10 feet tall could be 8 feet wide at the bottom. spray the pines with a green pigment in late September or early • Consider the decorating theme you plan to use. Some species have October. The pines naturally begin to turn a bit yellow as fall more open foliage, stiffer branches or longer needles. Research the characteristics of the different species on sites like approaches, and the pigment keeps the trees at their natural deep realchristmastrees.org. green color. • Find a farm near you that has the species you’re looking for. When you get your new tree home, follow these tips: • Place your tree in a bucket of water or your tree stand when you arrive home. If you purchase your tree from a retail lot, make a fresh, straight cut across the trunk about an inch up from the original cut before placing it in water. Never let the container holding your tree dry out or a seal will form and a new cut will be necessary. Fresh trees are thirsty and may drink from a pint to a gallon or more of water each day, so water daily. • Don’t add anything to the tree’s water. Research has shown that plain tap water is by far the best. Some additives and home concoctions can actually be detrimental to a tree’s moisture retention and increase needle loss. • Keep the tree well away from heat registers, space heaters, fireplaces, wood stoves, televisions, computer monitors and other heat sources. These will speed up evaporation and moisture loss of the tree. “A real tree will burn, but no more than anything else,” said OCTA Vice President Matt Jarvis.