Nov. 20, 2017 – West Bend, WI – Rick Takacs at Meadowbrook Farm in West Bend is arranging his stock of Christmas trees this week including fresh balsam, white pines and Fraser fir.
This year Takacs has trees from the same vendor in Oconto County who is supplied the tree to the White House in Washington D.C.
“Ten percent of the trees I grow myself and I also get trees from farms in Oconto, Summit Lake, Clintonville and Shawano,” he said.
The tree selected for the White House came from Dave and Mary Vander Velden’s Whispering Pines Tree Farm.
The couple won the National Christmas Tree Association’s biannual Christmas tree contest in 2016.
Takacs said part of his secret to getting the best trees is he gets them specifically from northeast Wisconsin and the vendors cut his last.
“The trees get cut between Nov. 12 – 14 and they cut my trees last and I bring them back the day after they’re cut and I stand them upright so they can pull the moisture from the ground,” he said.
On a warm, sunny November morning a red bearded turkey strolled past the tall stock of aromatic trees. It smelled like you were in a forest on top of Christmas Mountain.
“I trim all the trees up and I put them out in the tree stands,” said Takacs. “I have moist property and I run a drip hose along the ground just to keep them fresh.”
Takacs said he really liked the trees from the Vander Velden’s farm because they’re “tall and have super color.”
Meadowbrook Farm, 1270 Meadowbrook Road, will sell about 1,200 trees this season.
Click HERE for more details on pre-cut trees and Christmas wreaths.
