Maine
The 2008 recession is limiting Maine’s Christmas tree supply
It’s going to be all arms on deck Friday at Nutkin Knoll Farm when the gates open for the beginning of the Christmas tree season in Maine.
Proprietor Nancy Value is busy preparing for the anticipated rush of consumers and stated she is assured there will likely be sufficient bushes to satisfy the demand this season at her cut-your-own tree farm.
That’s the outlook statewide, in accordance with Jim Corliss, spokesperson for the Maine Christmas Tree Affiliation. However he additionally stated an financial downturn greater than a decade in the past is barely now limiting the general provide in Maine. It signifies that, whereas anybody who needs a recent tree this yr ought to be capable to discover one, chances are you’ll not discover it on the first tree farm you go to.
“The availability of Christmas bushes goes to be a bit tight,” Corliss stated. “Again in 2008 and 2009 when the recession hit, many [Christmas tree] growers went out of enterprise and others didn’t plant.”
Because it takes at the least 10 years for a Christmas tree to mature, that scaling again years in the past means fewer bushes reaching a sellable age now.
“We don’t have as many as we’d wish to have,” Corliss stated.
Corliss and his spouse used to function Piper Mountain Christmas Tree Farm in Newburgh. They retired and bought it a number of years in the past. New proprietor Jesse Jimerson stated his stock is a bit low, however the bushes he does have are in good condition.
“Rising bushes you want a crystal ball to look out 10 years sooner or later,” Jimerson stated. “Not as many bushes had been planted 10 or so years in the past and we’re feeling it now.”
Over at Kings Mountain Christmas Bushes in Orrington, proprietor Nino Chiapponi is assured he has a comparatively good provide of bushes heading into the season.
“For years we closed our fields to clients early so we may develop our stock up,” Chiapponi stated. “Saying ‘no’ to individuals was painful, and it has taken years of planning to get our stock up.”
Nonetheless, he says individuals mustn’t wait till the final minute to get their bushes.
“There are typically by no means sufficient bushes to go round,” Chiapponi stated. “It’s all the time higher to get right here sooner moderately than later.”
Which is why Corliss believes individuals could need to look a bit tougher for his or her vacation tree this yr. A part of that will even be as a result of the Maine Christmas tree trade is a sufferer of its personal success.
“I consider extra individuals are in search of actual bushes now,” Corliss stated. “I actually hope the age of plastic bushes has handed us by.”
The Maine Christmas Tree Affiliation can be now seeing constructive results of a media marketing campaign selling pure bushes, Corliss stated. The marketing campaign is funded by way of a 15 cent per tree bought evaluation on growers.
The affiliation additionally maintains an inventory of farms promoting Christmas bushes on its web site.
Again at Nutkin Knoll Farm, Value stated the Friday after Thanksgiving is her largest day of the yr, and he or she is trying ahead to a different busy weekend.
“Total our bushes look stunning and recent and really wholesome,” she stated. “We’re able to ship individuals out with a noticed to chop their very own, or we will have somebody assist them.”
Value believes she has the most effective job on this planet. She describes promoting Christmass bushes as a joyful enterprise.
“Individuals don’t go in search of a tree to chop down if they aren’t in a cheerful temper,” Value stated. “They arrive right here completely happy, and so they depart completely happy.”