Searching for the Perfect Christmas Tree?
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

By Tara Kelly
Photos by Sabrina Eberhard

Picking a Christmas tree is a very personal thing. If your perfect tree is sparkly white, never needs watering, and can be stored in a box till next year, this story might not be for you, then again, if you’re still reading, it might change your mind. 

A visit to Battenfeld’s Tree Farm on Route 199 in the town of Red Hook is, for many, the beginning of the Christmas season. The opportunity to walk out into a field, choose your very own tree, cut it down, and haul it home just adds to the experience. Every year, families have made it a tradition to get their tree here, returning generation after generation.

Fred Battenfeld has been selling Christmas trees most of his life. “My dad sold his first tree here in 1956 for a dollar. If we went and cut it, it was $2.” Fred took over from his father, and now Fred’s children, Lance and Morgan work there as well. Their mother, Suzanne, oversees the wreath and holiday decorations business. 

Of course, deciding which tree to cut is perhaps the most important decision. Start with the type of evergreen: fir, pine, or spruce. Then, consider the size and shape. “It might look tiny in the field, but trees grow by the time you get them home,” Battenfeld jokes. It’s advisable to bring a tape measure. Or use Battenfeld’s measuring stick.  

And finally, there’s the ineffable quality of “I’ll know it when I see it,” which Battenfeld says, has occasionally ended in tears, with one person going off “to wait in the car.” But then, family spats are also a Christmas tradition.

“I like to tell people it’s not so much about the product, but the experience; come spend the day with your family, be outside and create a memory. We have families who have been coming for three or four generations.”  It’s wise to plan your visit early—these trees are so popular that waiting too long means risking the chance they’ll sell out.

Growing and selling Christmas trees, like every other agricultural crop, is a business completely at the whim of the weather. It takes at least seven years for a tree to grow from a sapling to being big enough to sell. “A tree grows about a foot a year. “ Morgan says. 

But Battenfeld’s doesn’t just sell Christmas trees, they also sell wreaths, roping, tabletop decorations, and ornaments. By early November the place is buzzing like Santa’s workshop, with workers decorating hundreds of table-top boxwood trees, and making wreaths.

“People used to wait until the middle of December, to get their tree,” Battenfeld says, “but these days, the flood gates open the weekend after Thanksgiving.” Santa always makes an appearance, horse-drawn wagon rides are available, as well as refreshment stands, plus all the twine you need, to tie your perfect tree to the roof of your car for the trip home.  

And what kind of tree does the Battenfeld family get? “We usually pick the Charlie Brown tree, you know, the less than perfect one, the  one that was overlooked by the others. One year we went to cut a tree the day before Christmas, with a foot of snow on the ground, because we were too busy to go earlier in the season,” Morgan says. —christmastreefarm.us