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Christmas tree farmers feel enthusiasm for their cropEDMOND, Okla. (AP)--It took John Knight decades to find the career for which he was meant. He lasted only one year as a high school history teacher, owned and operated an air conditioning business and worked 23 years in facilities management at Oklahoma City Community College, before becoming a full-time Christmas tree farmer. Knight owns Sorghum Mill Christmas Tree and Blackberry Farm in Edmond. "This is my stress reliever," Knight said, motioning to the 50-acre farm from a golf cart, with his 14-year-old Corgi "Suzy" seated beside him. "I can't wait to get out here and hate to go in." He started the farm in 1984 as a sideline business and now lives and works full-time on the property. Knight has about 50,000 trees and 20 different varieties, mostly pine and spruce. Virginia Pine is his No. 1 seller, 4-to-1. "It's a soft tree and smells so good," Knight said, fingering a branch. Knight grew up on a farm near Sasakwa, in southeastern Oklahoma. Every Christmas, he and his father would choose and cut a cedar tree. A farmer and arborist, his father taught him all about trees. Oklahoma has 53 Christmas tree farmers, according to the Oklahoma Christmas Tree Association. The major tree species planted in acid soil are the Scotch Pine and the Virginia Pine. The species for alkaline soil is the Aldarica Pine. A newer variety, the Leyland Cypress, is showing success in both areas. Before they planted the Christmas Tree Farm in 1985, Bill and Jean Raisey had foresters survey their 10-acre property in Purcell to make sure trees could grow in the red clay. Like Knight, they grow Virginia Pine and Scotch Pine, which sell for $6 and $7 a foot, respectively. It's hard for firs to grow in the Oklahoma heat. "Bill just came home one day and suggested we grow Christmas trees," Jean Raisey said. Each year, they'd plant 1,000 more trees and the work became more intensive. Her husband was a painter and she, a paralegal, before they became full-time tree farmers 15 and 11 years ago, respectively. Part-time growers usually find planting and maintaining 500 to 2,000 trees per year is the maximum amount of work for their free time, while full-time growers may plant 5,000 to 10,000 trees per year. Some 540 to 1,740 trees can be planted per acre, depending upon the size of their centers, which are 5 to 9 feet. It takes five years for a tree to grow to market height, or 5 feet and taller. If growers have land, the costs for establishing a tree plantation are low. Seedlings are bought at the State Forest Regeneration Center in Goldsby and farmers typically provide their own labor. At Sorghum Mill, John Knight personally shears and shapes every tree, in the summer. He also mows and sprays for weed and pest control. In the selling season--the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve--he hires a part-time crew to help cut, bale and load trees. "It's wonderful to do something like this and make a living at it," Knight said. "I like making people happy and this gives me a vehicle to do it. I love seeing the children out here every year, running through the fields laughing and playing," he said. "I can't tell you how good that makes you feel." Date: 12/18/07
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