The Business Behind Your Christmas Tree
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- Created on Friday, 15 November 2013 17:51
- Written by Alex Shea
EAST BURKE- As temperatures drop and snow starts to fall, the holiday season is just around the corner. For those celebrating Christmas, tree selection time is quickly approaching.
Celebrating their 50th year, The Ruggles Tree Farm has been hard at work having already sold over 11,000 wholesale trees.
“Some go to New York, some go to the cape or even to Florida. Our trees are purchased through out the entire east coast,” says owner and operator Peter Ruggles.
With 50 years of experience behind him, Ruggles is confident in his methods over the competition, “We’ve been doing it for a long time while others have not, so we pretty much know what’s going on.” But it’s not all about beating the competition; the holidays are a time for giving, and helping one another, “There’s plenty of competition but we work with everybody. We have several other growers, if they run out we supplement them, and if we need some they supplement us.”
When it comes time to decorate your Christmas tree, it’s easy to forget how much work actually goes into growing these holiday icons. Taking four to five years to grow, these trees need constant care to ensure they are fit for your home.
“We do all the mowing, fertilizing and sheering ourselves. This season has been very good to us,” Says Ruggles
In recent years, the purchasing of fake Christmas trees has gained popularity amongst many families. These foux trees eliminate the burden of having to clean and water your tree, but Ruggles says real is the way to go.
“Its mostly about the fragrance, and just having a real tree. A fake tree is a fake tree. It’s like eating fake fruit; it may look good but it won’t taste good.”
Ruggles expects to see in increase in business following Thanksgiving weekend, continuing up to Christmas day. Selling nearly 10,000 trees last season, they hope this year will reach up to 13,000.
