With a yell of "timber!" from 3-year-old Brady Barth, down came the Fraser Fir tree that he and his family had hand selected from the Caywood Christmas Tree Farm in Marietta.
The boy had just finished helping his dad, Brian, cut down the tree.
"He enjoys going over the hill and cutting our own tree," said Brady's mom, Lisa Barth, of Marietta.
Article Photos
ASHLEY RITTENHOUSE The Marietta Times
Spencer Duckworth places a pine tree into a machine that shakes away loose needles at Caywood Christmas Tree Farm in Marietta.
For the Barths - as it is for many other families - traipsing around a tree farm in search of that perfect Christmas tree is a once-a-year tradition in place for generations.
For Lisa Barth, the tradition dates back to her childhood. Now, it's an experience she shares with Brady and Brian and someday, their two-month-old son Alex will also participate.
Lisa Barth's mother, Dolly Smith, also goes to the tree farm every year with the Barths so she can select a tree for her own home.
Fact Box
Caring for a fresh Christmas tree:
Once home, place the tree in water as soon as possible. Most species can go six to eight hours after cutting the trunk and still take up water. Don't bruise the cut surface or get it dirty.
To display the trees indoors, use a stand with an adequate water holding capacity for the tree. As a general rule, stands should provide one quart of water per inch of stem diameter. Devices are available that help maintain a constant water level in the stand.
Use a stand that fits your tree. Avoid whittling the sides of the trunk down to fit a stand. The outer layers of wood are the most efficient in taking up water and should not be removed.
Check the stand daily to make sure that the level of water does not go below the base of the tree. With many stands, there can still be water in the stand even though the base of the tree is no longer submerged in water.
Source: National Christmas Tree Association, www.Christmastree.org.
Choosing a tree at a farm:
Measure the ceiling height in the room where the tree will be displayed. The trees in the field look small when the sky is the ceiling. Don't overbuy.
Measure the width of the area of the room where the tree will be displayed. Most trees on tree farms are trimmed to an 80 percent taper, so a tree that's 10 feet tall will be 8 feet wide at the bottom. A tree that will fit in the room vertically may be entirely too big horizontally.
Head out to the field and select the tree that fits your predetermined needs. Check the trunk to be sure that it is sufficiently straight. Keep in mind that pines will usually have some crook in their trunks. Also check that the tree has a sufficiently long handle to accommodate your stand.
Source: National Christmas Tree Association, www.Christmastree.org.
"It's not so much having a live tree in the house as it is going up and getting a tree," Lisa Barth said. "It's a family experience."
For as long as Barth can remember, she has gone to Caywood Christmas Tree Farm in Marietta to get a tree.
The farm, located on Caywood Road in Marietta, was opened in 1991 by Bob and Helen Morrison.
"In some families, we're into second generations coming out and even third generations," said Bob Morrison. "Last weekend was a big weekend (and) people have been coming out since really the weekend after Thanksgiving."
Morrison said there are several different species of trees available at the farm, including Fraser Fir, scotch pine, white pine, Colorado blue spruce and white spruce.
"Typically the scotch pine is most popular of all," he said. "They have nice sturdy branches for the most part and the needle retention is very good on the scotch pine."
Still, Morrison said, the Fraser Fir is an "up and coming" species that an increasing number of people are becoming interested for it's nice fragrance and "old traditional style tree" that might be seen in Norman Rockwell paintings.
Lisa Barth said she likes the Fraser Fir because it has the look of the famous tree from "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
"I like the little short needles," she said. "My mom gets that kind, too."Morrison said at the farm, folks can either head up the hill like the Barths and cut their own tree, or they can choose from an assortment of pre-cut trees. He said the majority of customers prefer to cut their own.
"A lot of it is family tradition or family experience...they want to bring the kids out," he said. "Especially on a nice day, there are people that stay in the fields for an hour walking around."
He noted that saws are supplied to customers, as is a tarp so the tree doesn't get muddy or lose lots of needles while being dragged down the hillside.
The Halliday family, of Marietta, also gets their Christmas tree from Caywood Christmas Tree Farm, but they choose from those that are pre-cut rather than cutting their own.
Picking a tree from the farm is usually a family affair, according to John Halliday, who goes with his wife, Courtenay, and their children Jack, 14; Cooper, 12 and Piper, 8.
John Halliday said despite the fact that it requires water regularly and it loses needles, it's still important to him and his family that they have a live tree.
"It's what I grew up with," he said. "We've either had a scotch pine or blue spruce - they have thicker branches to hold heavier ornaments."
This year, he said, there is a 9-foot-tall blue spruce in his home. He said he had to get some help from friends getting the giant tree in there and he had to use two ladders to get the lights around the top.
"We spent most of the day Sunday decorating it," Halliday said.
He said when he takes the tree down, he puts it on his farm for rabbit habitat or in his pond for fish habitat.
