Bluebird Farm buys extra Christmas trees to help storm-hit N.C. growers
Leo Collins (left), owner of the Bluebird Christmas Tree Farm on Brushy Valley Road, talks with Bryan Cranmore outside the sales tent featuring pre-cut trees mostly imported from the mountains of Western North Carolina in this 2023 file photo. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
While the farm offers some live trees customers can pick from the fields, the bulk of the trees sold will be pre-cut varieties the farm has purchased from outside vendors, mostly in North Carolina.
Two big family-owned tree farms that supply most of Bluebird’s pre-cut trees — Fraser firs — are in the part of Western North Carolina area ravaged by flooding from Hurricane Helene in late September, but there will still be plenty of trees available even though the farms sustained heavy damage from the storm, according to Leo Collins, owner of Bluebird.
“The trees came through the flooding without damage,” according to a post on Bluebird’s Facebook page. “However, both farms suffered damage to buildings and equipment, so we have purchased 800 additional trees to support their financial recovery. In addition, a portion of the funds from the sale of these trees will go directly to these farms.
“If you have liked our trees in the past and would like to help these families, please share our posts and recommend us to your friends,” the Facebook post continued. “It will help these families come back from their losses.”
Collins said the farm will have plenty of live and pre-cut trees ranging from about six-and-a-half to 12 feet tall.
“In our fields we have Leyland cypress, Norway spruce, and Scotch pine,” he said. “We will be bringing in Fraser firs, Douglas firs, and Balsam firs.
“The Fraser firs are our most-popular variety,” Collins said. “It’s just too warm to grow the firs here.”
Bluebird Christmas Tree Farm, at 985 Brushy Valley Road, Heiskell, also operates a seasonal gift shop, which its Facebook page says is “fully stocked with T-shirts, caps, tree stands, local jams, honey, ornaments, and more.”
The store also features bacon and whole smoked country hams from Benton’s Smoky Mountain Ham in Madisonville.
Last year, Bluebird had about 350 trees growing in its fields that were ready for the season, and had shipped in more than 1,200 Fraser firs from tree farms in cooler areas.
For the past 40 years, Collins has run the tree farm at 985 Brushy Valley Road in the Heiskell community to serve as a launch pad for many families’ holiday celebrations.
His pre-cut trees are imported from the mountains of Tennessee and western North Carolina for sale in his big tent. Staff members wrap the trees and help people load them in or on top of their vehicles.
The farm has about 15 total employees working for the season helping to wrap and trim the trees for people to take home. About 12 of those are on duty at a time, Collins said.
The gift shop sells some decorating items, including fresh mistletoe and tree skirts, but mostly people buy the locally produced jams, jellies and honey the shop has on display.
Pints of jams and “butters,” such as pumpkin, strawberry and blueberry butter, are available. Jam and jelly flavors include cherry, strawberry, peach, pear, blueberry, strawberry, elderberry, blackberry and cinnamon-pear.
Collins said he originally bought the farm with the idea of growing Christmas trees for people to come and cut their own, a dream he’d had since he was a child.
Over the years, he has dabbled in other businesses on the farm, including a wholesale nursery, grapevines and honeybees.
“They all made money, but they were a lot of work and were not as much fun as Christmas trees,” he said.
Days and hours will be Thursday through Sunday until Dec. 22, except Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28), from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.