By Anson Tebbetts, Vermont Agriculture Secretary
As 2022 draws to a close, we have so many choices as to how we celebrate the season. Many Vermonters will visit a local tree farm to select a holiday tree. Vermont’s Christmas Tree growers cultivate and care for trees over a period of years, pruning, trimming, and nurturing the tree for that special moment. Customers appreciate wandering through rows of trees to select the perfect tree for their home and return with a fresh tree to trim for the holidays. To add to the festivities, many of Vermont’s Christmas Tree farms offer special events with refreshments, visits with Santa and his reindeer, and music. You can find listings of Vermont’s tree farms by visiting: https://www.nh-vtchristmastree.org/choose.php or https://vtchristmastrees.org/members-list
Some Vermont Christmas Tree farms ship trees and wreaths around the country, offering the opportunity to send a bit of the Green Mountains to friends and loved ones so they can experience a Vermont Christmas. What a treat to have a fresh Vermont tree arrive at your home! You also might pick up your tree at a farmstand or retail store or purchase a tree to support a local fundraiser. Many local businesses get their trees from a Vermont Christmas Tree farm. Supporting a local tree farmer is a great way to contribute to Vermont’s working landscape.
There is also a wholesale market for Vermont trees – perhaps you’ve seen trucks loaded with Christmas Trees heading south. Vermont tree farmers sell trees and holiday wreaths in large urban and suburban tree markets around the country. Access to these markets is helpful to Vermont tree farmers, allowing them to reach new audiences who appreciate a fresh, Vermont tree or wreath.
December is a busy month for others who are working making a living off the land. Thousands of products will be shipped around the country arriving at homes and businesses during the month of giving. Sending maple, cheese, crackers, jams, jellies, sauces, meat, and specialty products as gifts, supports small businesses across Vermont. Ordering online is an easy way to send a gift to a friend or loved one while supporting local agriculture, and many producers offer convenient gift packs and easily personalized boxes. If you like to shop in person, farmstands, producers and retailers are packed with Vermont gifts. We are grateful to have so many choices of quality products here in Vermont.
We at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture thank you for a busy and productive 2022. We are gearing up for 2023 but before the calendar turns, we will give thanks to our farmers who feed us, support our land and water and make Vermont a special place to live, work and play.
Anson Tebbetts
Secretary