Traditions Grow at McMurtrey’s Red-Wood Christmas Tree Farm

In my family, where we have an over abundance of fall birthdays, we don’t really get around to thinking about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. But for Jana Sifuentes and her husband Pablo, who own and operate , the holiday is a year-round endeavor.

“There is something to do all year,” said Sifuentes, whose father, Larry McMurtrey, first planted Christmas trees on the land more than 20 years ago. In the spring, the Sifuenteses plant seedlings and treat trees for disease; in the fall they shear—or shape—them.

Weed control is a constant challenge, says Sifuentes.

“We have very fertile soil…too fertile,” she laughs.

Still, the busiest time of year at the farm is the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That’s when the Sifuenteses sell as many as 3,500 trees, both from their u-cut fields and their lot. They have sold as many as 500 u-cuts in a single day, Sifuentes said. It’s busy, she admits, but adds “we have a really good process.”

The farm provides saws and wagons that carry tree shoppers to and from the fields. A mechanical tree-shaker rids the trees of excess needles (the Sifuentes family calls it the “Christmas dance”), and workers wrap them for the trip home. Unlike many tree farms, the Sifuenteses have a single, flat-rate for their trees, regardless of size or type, which they say makes the transaction easier for everyone involved. 

Before opening on the day after Thanksgiving, the Sifuenteses inventory all trees that are three-feet or taller; they sell one-third of that number before closing the fields for the year. You might think, with approximately 15,000 trees growing on the land, that the u-cut supply would be plentiful. But demand often exceeds it. 

“The last couple of years we’ve only lasted two weekends,” Sifuentes said.

But the farm continues to sell pre-cut trees from its lot through Christmas and beyond. (Orthodox Christians celebrate the holiday in early January and often purchase their trees after Dec. 25,  Sifuentes said.) These trees come from small growers, most of whom live in southern Washington; they are cut and put on a truck in the morning, brought to the lot and kept in water until they are sold to maintain their freshness.

Sifuentes said most of the trees grown on the farm are Douglas Fir, which do well at low altitude.

“(They are) really the traditional tree in this area,” she said.

Grand, Fraser, and Noble firs are also available, said Sifuentes, who explains the differences among them, as well as how to best care for them once you take them home.

The Noble Fir is “your premiere tree,” she said, adding that it lasts the longest and is a good choice for families who want to buy their tree right after Thanksgiving and leave it up until New Year’s. The Fraser, which is popular on the East Coast, has needles that are blue on the bottom and green on the top, giving it a distinctive look.

The Grand Fir has softer needles that lie flat and a strong citrus aroma. “I love the Grand Fir for the smell,” said Sifuentes, warning that if the tree dries out, “it’s done.”

Although it’s hard to imagine now, especially at this time of year, McMurtrey’s wasn’t always a Christmas tree farm. Sifuentes says her father, who was an engineer at Boeing, always wanted to try farming. When he retired, he leased—then purchased—land in the Sammamish Valley, including that where the current farm now sits.

McMurtrey tried his hand at truck farming, which Sifuentes said is a difficult way to make a living. Either you have a surplus but prices are low, she explains, or prices are high but you don’t have anything to sell. Eventually her father “got into Christmas trees.”

“My dad was always getting into something,” she laughs. “He was thinking (Christmas trees) would make him money…truck farming definitely did not.” By 1994, the trees were mature and ready to sell. McMurtrey’s has been selling them ever since.

Sifuentes says her father enjoyed the Christmas tree business well into his later years. Even when he was in his 80s, he "tried to talk to every customer,” she recalls. People who have been coming in for 15 years still remember him.

Like her father, Sifuentes enjoys sharing her knowledge and the fruits of her family’s labors. “It’s fun for us,” she says of the hectic holiday season. “We have a great time.”

As do their customers, who come from as far away as Seattle.

“It’s not just going to a lot and grabbing a tree,” Sifuentes said. “It’s a family experience.”