Fairfield County’s Cut-Your-Own-Tree Parks

When it comes time to pick up a Christmas tree, plenty of busy Fairfield County families opt for their favorite grocery store parking lots. 

But for those who choose to cut their own — making the much-less-convenient trek to evergreen tree farms marked by picturesque rolling hills, red wooden shacks, bushy wreaths and kids playing hide-and-seek among the shrubbery — the rewards are more than worth it. 

Lou Bacchiocchi, 51 — the man who runs the H. Smith Richardson Tree Farm, a 22-acre parcel of land within the Audubon Society's Westport-based sanctuary — said Fairfield County citizens flock to his farm for a variety of reasons.

"You get people who want the freshest tree possible," Bacchiocchi, who started working at the farm as an undergraduate student from Fairfield University in 1981, told Patch. Today his seasonal staff includes wife Lisa, 51, and daughters Meredith, 20, and Lindsay, 23. "The second group is families who want to teach kids about how they grow. A lot of families come here every year and don't think of going anywhere else." 

The farm saw an increase in popularity in the 1990s, when Martha Stewart herself stopped by the farm to cut a tree and film a holiday segment.

Today, Bacchiocchi sells both pre-cut trees for $60 to $120 (Balsam Firs and Fraser Firs, which he hasn't grown since deer ate 1,000 four-year-old seedlings within months of their being planted), and cut-your-own trees (White Spruce, Douglas Fir and Blue Spruce) for $60. Because most of the upfront cost of growing a tree is invested in its seedling years, a three-footer goes for the same price as an eight-foot tree. Trees that measure taller than ten feet go for $85.

At Bacchiocchi's farm, the typical Christmas tree sold is about 12 years old and eight feet tall; most varieties of trees over four years of age grow at a rate of one foot per year. 

And because he's so busy, Bacchiocchi usually doesn't get his own tree until 10 days before Christmas. 

"We tend to take the White Spruce," he told Patch. "We like the look, we like the stiffness of the branches." 

At Jones Family Farms in Shelton, you'll find plenty of those breeds nestled within the tree farm's 400-acre lush, hilly landscape.

To help saw-wielding customers decide which variety of tree they want, there are signs  posted underneath samples of each of the trees it offers near the walkway where people enter. 

"Every family has their own idea of what's the best tree," the farm's marketing and hospitality manager Keith Padin told Patch. "For some it's the Balsam because it's the most fragrant; some like the Douglas Fir because it's such a beautiful, soft tree." 

Between frolicking among the rows of trees or taking a tasting break at the farm's on-premises winery, getting a tree at the Jones Family Farm could turn into an all-day excursion. And that's why 34-year-old farmer Jamie Jones, the sixth-generation Jones family member who now manages the site, loves his job. 

"As much as we say we're selling a Christmas tree, people are here because they want the experience," Jones told Patch. "There's no doubt they could go to Wal-Mart and get a tree for less." 

On a sunny, not-too-cold afternoon the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, Jamie, his wife Christiana, 39, sons Sam, 3, and Jackson, 6, and two-month-old daughter Juliet, decided it was time to pick their own. 

The 12-foot tree his sons choose — an "obscure" Turkish Fir — waited in a far-off area in the back of the farm Jamie Jones reserves to test new Christmas tree breeds. 

"We always cut our own tree," Jamie Jones said. "Last year we just walked out our back door and walked a couple hundred yards to the tree field and picked out a nice tree." 

Several hundred yards away, another family decided opted for a slightly smaller Fraser Fir after having a little fun among the shrubbery. 

"I was hiding away from my mommy and daddy," said four-year-old Avery Beck-Ley, who made the trek to Shelton with his family — dad David, mom Erica, 2-year-old brother Oliver and one-month-old brother Elliot — from Mount Kisco, NY. 

But kids aren't the only ones having fun. 

Ryan Cole, 28, a Stamford-based private equity professional, said he plans to go to Everett's Corner Tree Farm on Sunday to relive his youth. 

"I have vague recollections of going out when I could barely walk and keep up," said Cole. "As a little boy that was pretty fun -- I got to hold the saw and walk next to my dad."

And like the Jones family, Cole is among a growing number New Englanders who want to support local farmers, slow down and smell the roses (or in this case, the Douglas Firs). 

"Consumers have become adapted to instant gratification, through the advent of smartphones or online shopping for gift purchases," said Cole. "Cutting your own trees is departure from this newfound impatient-consumer approach. It beckons cutters to don warm clothing and drive somewhere unfamiliar. It's a great fusion with the natural environment."

That's why Wilton-born Megan Folkman hopes to continue the tree-cutting tradition when she has her own family. 

"It was super important to my dad that we cut it down," Folkman, a 28-year-old marketing consultant, who recalls trips to Shelton and other parts of Fairfield County. "He would drag us out no matter how cold it was, and we'd go to a different farm every year. We'd drive maybe an hour up there, and my brothers would complain the entire time, but they knew they couldn't get out of it. My job was to go around and smell all the trees. We'd find one that everyone agreed on and smelled good. My brothers would chop it down. And on the way home we'd stop at this one place and get apple cider donuts. It was very specific and we had to do it the same exact way every year." 

Folkman's family cut down trees every Christmas season since she was 10, and stopped when she was 24 and her father — who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in Christmas Eve on 2004 — became too sick to go. 

Her father and passed away on Christmas day in 2007. 

"Going out and chopping down the trees, everybody being together, was special. Even my brothers complaining was special," said Folkman. "Life was so unpredictable for my family, but that was one thing that was always the same."

Ready to cut your own Christmas tree? Grab your working gloves, lace up your sturdy shoes, and head to one of Fairfield County's best tree farms. Here are our picks: 

Jones Family Farms

• 266 Israel Hill Road (near intersection of Route 110 & Walnut Tree Hill Road) Shelton, CT 06484 
• 203-929-8425; http://www.jonesfamilyfarms.com open daily 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• $60
• Trees available include Blue Spruce, Fraser Fir, Douglas Fir, Balsam Fir, White Pine and White Fir

Audubon Society H. Smith Richardson Tree Farm

• Sasco Creek Road, Westport, CT 06880
• 203-623-0646
• Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends, 12 to 4 p.m. on weekdays, closed on Mondays.
• $60-85
• Trees available include Douglas Fir, White Spruce, Blue Spruce

Bob's Tree Farm

• 66-68 Turkey Plain Road, Rt. 53, Bethel, CT 06801 
• 203-241-3450
• Open Sat. & Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• $50
• Trees available include Douglass Fir, Concolor Fir, White Spruce, Blue Spruce varieties

Caesar's Nursery & Christmas Tree Farm

• 883 Federal Road - Rt. 7, Brookfield, CT 06804. 203-775-2944
• Open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily
• $36.80 and up
• Tree available include White Pine, Fraser Fir, Douglas Fir, White Spruce, Colorado Blue Spruce

Everett's Corner Tree Farm 

• 136 Sherwood Road, Easton, CT 06612
• 203-268-2508; http://everettscorner.com 
• Open 9 a.m. till dusk Dec. 4 & 5 and Dec. 11 & 12
• $50 
• Trees available include White Spruce, Blue Spruce, and White Pine  

Fairview Tree Farm

• 486 Walnut Tree Hill Road, Shelton, CT 06484.  
• 203-944-9090; http://fairviewtreefarm.com/
• Open Friday-Wednesday 9 a.m .to 5 p.m.; Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• $49
• Trees available include Blue Spruce, White Spruce, Serbian Spruce, Fraser Fir, Douglas Fir, Con Color Fir

Maple Row Tree Farm

• 538 North Park Avenue, Easton, CT 06612 
• 203-261-9577;  http://www.mrfarm.com/
• Open daily 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
• Call for current prices
• Trees available include Balsam Fir, Canaan Fir, Colorado Bruce Fir, Con Color Fir, Douglas Fir, Eastern White Pine, Fraser Fir, Norway Spruce and White Spruce

Download the movie