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Local tree farm creates holiday memories
By Suzi Nelson
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| SAY CHEESE: Phyllis Johnson (from left), Jason Strode, Laura Schwartzkopf and Paul Johnson have their picture taken by Marcia Nattrass last week before they head out to find a Christmas tree at Prairie Pine Plantation near Ashland. For more photos, go to the Photo Gallery. (Staff Photo by Suzi Nelson) |
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Since Thanksgiving, families from Ashland and places much farther have participated in the ritual of cutting a fresh Christmas tree at Prairie Pine Plantation, located five miles northwest of Ashland.
The tree farm is operated by the Nattrass family, who have made it their mission to provide a memorable holiday experience for those who come to buy a tree.
The experience starts with a photograph taken by Marcia Nattrass, who originally bought the farm 15 years ago with her husband, Dick.
Marcia lines customers up in front of the building for the photo, which will be displayed next year on the “Wall of Fame,” a cork board-lined wall in their gift shop that is filled with smiling, happy children and equally merry parents. When the family returns the next year, they are invited to take last year’s picture home with them.
The “Wall of Fame” started about 10 years ago, said Marcia Nattrass. That was five years after she and her husband purchased the farm that had been known as Grandpa’s Christmas Tree Farm.
The whole thing came about in an unusual way. Dick Nattrass was getting his hair cut at a barbershop in Omaha when he heard the owner say he was selling a Christmas tree farm near Ashland. He came home and told Marcia about it and they ventured out from Omaha to see it.
“I had always thought a seasonal farm would be nice,” said Marcia.
It wasn’t the quaint family business Marcia had pictured, though.
“I said, there’s no two-story white house with a barn,” she recalled.
Instead, there was just a trailer house and a garage and 6,000 trees. But the Nattrasses saw potential, and went ahead with the purchase. They continued to live in Omaha and commuted to Ashland to care for the farm.
Over the years, they have planted more varieties of trees, built a structure to house their work and retail areas, and added other activities. All the while, their four children and many grandchildren have also pitched in.
In recent years, Marcia and Dick decided to cut back, moving to the warmer southwest climate for health reasons. They turned the operation over to their son, Rich, but they return several times a year to help out, especially at Christmas time. That’s when the entire family unites to run the operation.
“The whole family is very much involved,” said Marcia.
About two weeks before Thanksgiving, they begin pre-cutting trees. They sell trees wholesale to other retailers and also offer pre-cut trees for lower prices at the tree farm.
The majority of the customers who come to Prairie Pine Plantation opt for the choose-and-cut trees, where they can go out in the field with a long white pole with an orange flag on one end. When they choose their tree, they raise the pole so a Nattrass family member, high above the ground on a home-made steel perch, can spot them. The tree is then cut, shaken so loose needles come out, and bound in netting for a safe ride home. The Natrasses even load it up on the car.
Prairie Pine Plantation has 15,000 trees in 10 varieties that include several fir and two spruce species.
Rich Nattrass said by far the most popular is the Scotch pine.
“Most people run with that,” he said. Marcia said the Scotch pine is a sturdy tree that holds heavy ornaments.
Most customers opt for a tree in the seven-foot range, although a few select one as tall as 16 feet, according to Rich.
Their busiest time is not the days after Thanksgiving, as many would predict.
“The first weekend in December we’ll have 60 to 100 groups a day,” said Marcia.
And they come right up until Christmas Eve, said Rich.
Nice weather does bring more the customers, but people will come out in all kinds of weather to get their tree, even days when it’s so foggy you can’t see to the end of the parking lot.
“We’ll have people out here in rain, snow, sleet and ice,” said Rich. “When it’s time to get their tree, they get their tree.”
For those visiting on a day when the weather is a bit nicer, they can take a leisurely stroll through the forest on a path lovingly decorated by Marcia. Ornaments, stars, tinsel, garland, a nativity scene, snowmen and a host of bells, adorn the trees.
Marcia also has installed benches along the path, so young and old can sit and enjoy nature.
“I tell the kids to take their time and sit on the bench and be quiet for a while,” she said. When they do, they may see a bird, a squirrel or even an owl.
Fire pits provide warmth before and after the nature trek, and customers are treated to complementary hot chocolate and cookies in the gift shop.
The gift shop is a new addition to Prairie Pine Plantation. Marcia spent a year purchasing ornaments, stockings, decorations, and holiday knick knacks to add to the shopping experience.
Marcia is also the chief wreath and swag maker in the operation. In her work area adjacent to the gift shop, she crafts branches of pine and fir into fragrant wreaths and sweeping swags, tied with velvet bows and adorned with pine cones.
“I just like wreaths,” she said.
Sandy Roeber of Murdock travels to Prairie Pine Plantation two or three times each holiday season to buy the fresh decorations.
“I give them as gifts, and put one on the barn and one on the house,” she said, before leaving with a new wreath and swag.
While the retail season revolves around Christmas, there is work to be done at the tree farm throughout the year. In April, planting takes place. In June, trees are sheared to retain the traditional “Christmas tree” shape that is so familiar.
Rich works at the farm in addition to his full-time job as an electrician. On the farm, he spends a lot of time fighting disease and insects, common to any agriculture operation. He also explores other areas of agriculture at the farm, growing an ever-expanding organic garden that uses no animal product and provides unique and flavorful produce for his family. Someday, he’d like to sell the produce to the public, he said.
In the meantime, he focuses on the tree farm, and what it takes to continue the successful venture his parents started in 1994.
Over the years, the business has grown, with the exception of 2001, when the 9/11 terrorist attcks put a damper on Christmas tree buying.
“It took three years to get back to where we were,” Rich said.
Last year customers cut back on purchasing wreaths and swags as the economy struggled, Marcia said, but the trees continued to be popular.
And this year the upward trends looks to continue. Rich, Marcia, Dick and the family continue to keep busy with a steady trickle of customers during the week and a wall-to-wall influx of families on the weekends. As a family, they work together to make sure their customers have the best Christmas tree experience available.
“The whole crew is family along with one family friend, and most customers recognize that,” said Marcia.
Prairie Pine Plantation is open through Christmas Eve Tuesday through Friday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 944-3293 for an appointment. For more information, go to www.prairiepineplantation.com.
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