Seasons giving
Farm supports storm-hit suppliers
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Helpers at the Bluebird Christmas Tree Farm in Heiskell wrap a tree for some customers on Saturday. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Beckett Jones, 6, left, and Griffin Jones, 4, check out some jellies at the Bluebird Christ- mas Tree Farm on Saturday as their mother, Danielle Jones of Heiskell, looks on. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Bluebird Christmas Tree Farm owner Leo Collins discuss- es a Frasier fir tree with customers Tessa Antol, left, and Jama Antol of Knoxville on Saturday. - G. Chambers Williams III
Having opened the weekend before Thanksgiving, the Bluebird Christmas Tree Farm on Brushy Valley Road has already sold many of the trees grown in its own fields that were ready for this year, owner Leo Collins said Saturday.
But as of last weekend, there were still plenty of cut trees imported from Western North Caroline and Oregon available for those who need them for the 2024 holiday season.
And, Collins said, he now believes he will be able to send $3,000 each to the two North Carolina farms he bought trees from that were heavily damaged by the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in late September.
He bought extra trees from the farms this year to help them recover from the damage to their buildings, and pledged to donate part of the proceeds of the sales of those trees back to the farms to help them rebuild.
The 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 the storm, but they still had plenty of trees available.
“The trees mostly came through the flooding without damage,” Collins said. “However, both farms suffered damage to buildings and equipment, so we purchased 800 additional trees to support their financial recovery.”
Collins said he had about 300 of his own Norway spruce and Leyland cypress trees ready to sell this year from his fields, and that by last Saturday, more than half of those were already gone.
“We still have a lot of cut trees still on hand, but we’re going through a lot of trees,” he said Saturday afternoon as dozens of people wandered the big tent and the fields shopping for their trees.
“We have the Frasier firs from North Carolina and Douglas firs from Oregon,” he said.
The tree farm will be open again this weekend – 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday – and again the next two weekends as long as the stock of trees holds out, Collins said.
Once they’re gone, he will close the tree business until next year.
“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.
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.
