Eleven days before Christmas, an outdoor firepit crackles next to the gift shop at South Farm in Bethlehem. A speaker plays carols as cars roll into the small parking lot.

Nigel Manley, bundled up in wool pants and a red and green hat with a festive pom pom, runs the show. He’s a big deal in the Christmas tree world: he’s on the board of the national Christmas tree association, and a leader in several industry groups in New England.

He fell into the job while working at The Rocks. He was working for a cattle farmer, helping with a variety of jobs. But then, the farm started growing Christmas trees.

“Basically I could either do a Christmas tree farm or not have a job. So Christmas tree farming seemed to be like a good idea.”

He loved it enough to start his own farm in 2014. Nowadays, he says he sings “Jingle Bells” all year round.

Manley plants about 900 trees a year. And he likes to experiment with new species, branching out from the Frasers and Balsams that have dominated the Christmas market for years.

Several years ago, he happened upon the Korean fir. They have a silvery-blue sheen, because their needles twist as they grow, showing their undersides. And they smell citrusy, like oranges.

Manley says they’re also tough to prune; they don’t always grow straight up. So in 2021, he started planting a hybrid version pollinated with Balsam pollen.

“They’ve got the beautiful color. They’re growing well,” he said. “They’re easier to prune by far.”

Now, those hybrids are a third of the trees he’s planting each season. They grow fast. People like how they look and smell. And they’ve also had an unexpected benefit. They’re more resilient to the kinds of changes he’s seeing on his land, as warmer temperatures and wet summers cause trouble.

“We’re losing more Fraser firs because of the wetness, phytophthora root rot in particular,” he said.

While Manley didn’t set out to find a Christmas tree that could thrive better in changing conditions, the hybrid firs just might fit the bill.

“It seems like in wetter conditions they’ll put up with more water. And just based on how they’re growing and knowing it has got warmer, I say they do really well in it,” he said.

Korean fir trees have had a difficult time in South Korea recently, where they make up a forest on Hallasan Mountain on Jeju Island. There, National Geographic reports they’re threatened by heat, erosion and increasing extreme storms.

In New Hampshire, though, the business for hybrid Korean/Balsam fir trees is thriving.

Jay Weir, who owns Weir Tree Farms in Colebrook, says he’s ramped up production of seedlings, which he sells to growers across the country, including Manley.

“A lot of people really like the way these trees are performing,” he said. “They’ll grow in just about any type of soil, very resistant to root rots and pests.”

They don’t seem to be as affected by drought or wet weather as other firs, he said. And though there are a limited number of people selling seeds, he thinks they’ll become a bigger part of the industry moving forward.

Most of Manley’s trees are sold wholesale, and this year that included the hybrids. The rest stay at the farm for people to cut down themselves.

Gene and Liliana Farr picked out one of the first Korean fir trees Manley planted. They liked the citrus smell and the silvery color. It was their first time cutting their own tree, and they said they were excited to decorate it with birds and other animal ornaments.

The tree is beautiful. So beautiful, Manley actually chose the same one to put it in his own house. But he didn’t cut it down fast enough; the Farrs beat him to it.

“It was just the way that it was formed, I liked it. Because of the challenge with trying to prune these, to me it’s like it takes something into the house that’s taken a lot of effort,” he said.

An effort now for his customers to appreciate as they unwrap presents, under brightly shining Christmas lights and lovely branches.

After a week of warmer than average temperatures, New England is heading into the weekend before Christmas with snow showers.

The snow will return the biting wind chills and freezing temperatures typical of a New England December back to the region, including New Hampshire and Maine.

In New Hampshire, today’s snow will mostly impact the Seacoast, with a light coating expected across the state. Here’s what to know about the timing, location and effects of today’s snowfall in New Hampshire.

Where in NH will it snow today?

According to the National Weather Service (NWS) of Gray, Maine, light snow showers will fall this evening into tonight across Maine and New Hampshire. The weather system is classified as a weak clipper, meaning it will bring strong winds and cold temperatures, but little precipitation.

Most areas of New Hampshire and Maine will see a light coating, with up to an inch of snow possible along the Seacoast of southeastern New Hampshire and mid-coast Maine. As of right now, the NWS has issued a hazardous weather outlook for south central Maine, southwest Maine and southern New Hampshire.

Driving conditions in NH today

Today’s snowfall will not cause significant accumulation, but the NWS warns that the timing of the storm will affect the evening commute.

NH weather: Will it be a white Christmas in New Hampshire? Here’s the long-range forecast

NH weather this weekend

While the past week has seen above average temperatures, this weekend will turn much colder. On Saturday and Sunday, the coast will see sub-zero wind chills with temperatures in the low 20s or early 30s during the day and the single digits at night.

Nearly a dozen New Hampshire communities are hosting vigils this week to remember friends and family who passed away because of homelessness this year. Keene hosted a vigil on Monday, Concord is scheduled for Thursday, with others scheduled for Saturday.

Click here for more details on the vigils scheduled around New Hampshire this week.

“It’s the first night of winter, the longest night of the year, the darkest day of the year,” said Maggie Fogarty from the American Friends Service Committee. “It’s a good time for a solemn reflection on the loss of our siblings to homelessness, also coming as it does during a season of celebration and of light.”

Fogarty helps compile the list of people who will be remembered at these vigils. She explained that it includes people who passed away while being unhoused, as well as people who died prematurely because of the toll from being unhoused, even after finding housing.

About 60 people will be remembered this year, either just with their name, or a memory from someone who knew them. While some names are submitted by friends and family, most are from people who provide supportive services to unhoused people.

She added that these vigils are also a chance for community members to reflect and commit to advocacy, especially because 2025 is a budget-writing year for state government.

“That commitment to system change and to ensuring that public policy, not just charity, combine to protect everyone from poverty,” she said. “That’s as important an aspect of this remembrance as the coming together as a community to remember our siblings.”

According to a new report, New Hampshire saw the highest percentage rise in homelessness in the country between 2022 and 2023. The number of people facing homelessness in the Granite State went up by roughly 52%, while other states’ saw an average increase of 12% during the same time period, according to the report.

The report is put out annually by the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness using information from a “point in time” count, which is an effort to count the number of homeless individuals in the state on a single day each year.

That data in the latest report suggests that New Hampshire saw a decline in veterans experiencing homelessness between 2022 and 2023. But the problem worsened for people dealing with chronic homelessness, single adults, families and sheltered individuals.

NHPR’s Olivia Richardson contributed to this report.