Page 4 • Wednesday , November 24 , 2021 • The Hammonton Gazette
Christmas tree farms doing well in Hammonton
TREE , from Page 1
Caffrey said that White Dog farms was slated to open on November 5 for tree-tagging .
“ We ’ ll be open every weekend until we run out of trees . trees are really in short supply ; unfortunately , i have to limit what i ’ m selling . there ’ s been a huge influx of people buying live trees , starting last year . this year , i expect the same thing ; i ’ ve had phone calls from people to tag trees as early as august ,” Caffrey said .
Caffrey noted several reasons for the shortage in trees .
“ the big fires out west have hit a lot of the tree farms on the west coast — Oregon , Washington , northern California — so some of those farmers out there can ’ t supply any trees ,” Caffrey said . additionally , Caffrey said that it takes at least seven years to properly grow a Christmas tree .
“ even though i have trees that are planted in the ground and they ’ re growing , my next crop is still probably two or three years away ... You can only grow them so fast . it ’ s not like vegetables . You ’ re just piling money into it to keep it going until you start recouping ,” Caffrey said .
Caffrey said that White Dog farms planted their first trees in 2002 and has continued to grow .
“ We started selling in 2009 , and didn ’ t sell a lot ; we only sold 26 trees . Last year , we sold 800 ,” Caffrey said .
Caffrey has seen customers return to White Dog farms annually since their first year in operation .
“ i have some families that started to buy with their children in 2009
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Chris and Tony Petrongolo have been operating Petrongolo Evergreen Plantation since 1979 . and still come back . Now , they ’ re coming back with their grandchildren . i have a lot of loyal customers who keep coming back , and i have a lot of new customers , too . a lot of nice testimonials come our way ,” Caffrey said . additionally , a very special guest acts as a big draw for customers .
“ they look forward to having their picture taken with Santa Claus . We open the door , and we have photographer and Santa Claus . i get calls all the time asking , ‘ when Santa ’ s going to be there ?’ Santa is going to be here November 21 . My photographer just had a baby in October , so we only have one day ; usually , we do two ,” Caffrey said . Caffrey has also noticed an increased in photography at White Dog farms .
“ i have photographers taking Christmas pictures on the farm , and i don ’ t charge the photographers . the only thing i ask them to do is publicize that we ’ re here . this is a record for us ; we have 10 different photographers on the farm this year ,” Caffrey said .
Caffrey said that , once tagging begins , White Dog farms will cut trees anytime that the customers want , but “ the weekend before thanksgiving we ’ ll really start cutting .”
“ People want their trees up for thanksgiving . i ’ ll stop cutting the Saturday before Christmas . the way the phone calls are coming in , i expect to be all tagged out for trees ,” Caffrey said . things are also proceeding apace at Holly ridge tree farm , according to Jeff foster — who runs the operation with his father , Dennis .
“ We tagged all the trees that we want to sell . Some farms sell any tree by the foot . We price our trees individually , so we ’ re getting ready
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Dennis and Jeff Foster run Holly Ridge Tree Farm . to do that now . We ’ re cutting grass ; foster said . i ’ ve got about maybe a day ’ s worth One service traditionally offered of trimming to do to finish up . We at Holly ridge tree farm may not have the rest of the farm set up . We be available this year , foster said . put out signs to try to help direct “ for a while , we offered tractor traffic and help explain how our rides , but , due to how busy we ’ ve tagging process works , so we ’ re been the past couple of years , we ’ re getting ready to put all that stuff not sure if we ’ re going to be able to out ,” foster said . still offer that service . that might foster said that they put a great be what we ’ re known for the deal of time into the preparation of most — the place where you got to their Christmas trees . ride out on the tractor with the guy
“ We ’ ve been trimming since who ’ s going to cut the tree ,” foster early June , and we ’ re just about to said . wrap up now . i ’ ve been out there foster said that Holly ridge tree any day that it ’ s not raining after farm — which will open to the public on November 26 — planted its my 9-to-5 is done . i ’ m out there until dark and on the weekends ,” first trees in 1976 and sold the first foster said . ones in 1984 . each tree that is for sale , foster “ Some of the customers have said , already has a tag on it . been here since the first year ; now
“ Our field is set up like a grid , their kids , who are my age or older , and each tree has its own designated location on the grid . they pretty cool . a lot of families have
are coming with their families . it ’ s
find the one they like in the price been here 15 to 20 years or longer . range they ’ re looking for , they pull they come in , say hi and talk about the bottom stub off the tag — which how it ’ s their tradition , on the day reserves it for them — and bring it after thanksgiving , everybody gets up to us . We fill out a receipt and in the car first thing and heads over go cut it , or schedule a pick-up ,”
See FARM , Page 18