Wednesday 15 December 2010

Harvesting the Christmas Tree

There's a small plantation of Christmas tree conifers on the estate. Mike planted them as cover for the pheasants, but neither he nor the pheasants will miss one little tree. I put my chainsaw in the truck and Dakota came along for the ride.


We took the back road that goes through one of the tenant farmers' farm. They kindly let me raid their straw barn when the horses needed to be stabled and had no bedding. I stopped in on the way - milking time, so I knew someone would be in the parlour - to say thanks, and pay for the straw and another bag of barley to feed the sheep.

The back road leads to a track, which leads to a field. The trees are on the far side. The sheep were unperturbed to be sharing their field with the truck.
 

The trees are just the other side of the artichokes - another crop grown for pheasant cover.


Dakota amuses herself following the pheasants' scent while I head off to pick a tree.

There's a pretty good tree in here -


See it yet?


A quick swipe from the chainsaw and it was ready to come home with me. I crossed my fingers that it would fit in the truck.


Almost perfect. But the dog and the saw had to share the back seat on the way home -


Turn the sparse side towards the wall so no one sees it, add a few home made ornaments, some lights, and hey presto -


Ready when you are, Santa.

9 comments:

Harvest Kitchen Sisters said...

Looks a lot like ours!! Your a genius to bring the chainsaw. Happy Holidays!

Dog Hair in my Coffee said...

I love your tree. It's the PERFECT tree.

Paula said...

The shorn trees you get from the the tree lots are commercially pretty, but I think the natural trees are much prettier. I like yours.

Jamie Cameron said...

My wife and I cut down our first homegrown Christmas tree a few weeks ago. It may be a bit "Charlie Brown" but it's the best tree we've ever had.

Julian Schmechel said...

I don't wish to alarm you Jen, but whilst you were out lumberjacking, the Big Bad Wolf seems to have climbed into the back of your pick up!

Were you by any chance on your way to Grandma's house?

Jennifer Montero said...

HKS - My laziness always prevails. Chainsaws may not be traditional but it's totally worth it. Your tree looks great.

DHimC - More importantly, it's a FREE tree

Paula - The trees in our natural lot are getting tall now, so I'll be cutting the tops out of them next year. Or I need a bigger house.

Jamie - It's very satisfying cutting your own tree, Charlie Brown or not.

Julian - and I found her in my bed later, though she wasn't wearing my nightgown....

Tamar@StarvingofftheLand said...

I can practically smell it! As a Jew who's never had a Christmas tree, I've always thought that the biggest appeal Christmas has is the smell of pine in the house.

Breathe deep for me.

SECRET PEPPER PERSON: said...

I love the tree and the photo of Dakota squished in the back with the saw. Perfect!

Jennifer Montero said...

Tamar - As one who celebrates Christmas I've always envied my Jewish friends going out for a Chinese meal on Christmas day. All relaxing and no washing dishes. So much more sensible.

SPP - For a big dog, Dakota will fit into any small space available, as long as she gets to be part of the excitement.