Our Own Christmas Tree, the hard way - updated with decorated view

Last year we bought our Christmas tree at a roadside stand near the house; it was going to be a surprise since it was still wrapped up in a net and covered with mud just as it came from the field. That's what you get when you buy the "bargain" tree on the lot. After wrestling it almost into our Aveo and bringing it home we unwrapped it, hosed it down, and did some serious trimming to get it to the size and shape we wanted. Then I had to give the car a good cleaning to get rid of the mud that came along with the tree. We enjoyed the tree, especially the woodsy aroma that it gave to the entire house.

Oregon is a major producer of Christmas trees; it is considered a farm crop. A tree takes 7-8 years to reach marketable size. Last year some farmers were hurt when large orders were cancelled, they hoped to make it up this year. BUT, the changing economy has put a real pinch on the Christmas tree market and many large orders have been cancelled. Farmers are looking to sell off their entire planting of trees and put the land to another use that will bring in the money that they need. As a result the price of Christmas trees has dropped dramatically; a Nobel Fir which would have cost $45-$60 last year can be bought for $15-$20 this year.

We need to do our part to support the local economy so we decided to buy a tree from a local tree farm this year. In addiditon we decided to locate, cut, and haul our own tree. Our daughter has cut their tree at the same place for the past few years. We went out this past Sunday afternoon to cut ours. The farm is located on a mountain road between Portland and the northern coast. The drive was breathtaking, much of the time in fog as the weather was changing and we had intermittent rain storms.

The farm is operated by the Bateman family. It is a "Century Farm" which is the designation given to Oregon farms that have been owned and operated by the same family for over 100 years.

After getting out of the car and arming ourselves with a saw we set out up the hill to view the possibilities. As you might expect, after several years of harvesting the better trees were located some distance from the road.


The Bateman farm has fir, spruce, blue spruce, Nobel fir, and several other varieties that I don't recognize. I gave Sandra the task of locating the tree we would harvest. Some were short and fat.

Some were skinnier

Some were just right but someone had seen it first and tagged it for harvesting later.
We finally located the "perfect" tree





All that remained was to cut it down




We took turns just to say that "we" cut our own tree this year




Now that its cut, the next task was to carry it down the hill to the truck for the journey back to town. We didn't take any pictures of our muddy boots and pants or our gum smeared hands.




After a night drying out the branches and a good shaking to remove loose needles it was time to bring it inside.

Our niece visited us Christmas 2006 and fell in in love with "living upstairs". She wanted to be sure the tree could be seen from upstairs and gave us instructions about where it should be placed.

We put it there and took a picture to send her and let her know that we had to move it to the living room.

We put it in a more "viewable" spot that didn't block traffic, I hope she feels OK with that

FRESH Crabs - an advantage of living near the Pacific Ocean

Dungeness crabs are a specialty of the Pacific Northwest. They sell in the local markets for $5 to $7 per pound, BUT an annual shellfish permit only costs $6.50 and you can catch up to 12 every day. The permit is good for shrimp, clams, and crabs. Crab season runs from December 1 to August 15. You can go out into the bays or ocean on a boat or drop your traps from one of the docks jutting out into the bays around the coastal areas. You can even rent traps on a daily basis. The trap comes with a rotting, smelly fish that you use for bait.

Of course you will get crabs of all types and sizes in your trap


However, you may only keep the male crabs over a certain size - so after measuring and "sexing", all the females and smaller crabs go back into the water.

But, there's plenty left to take home.

The crabbing dock has a place where they will steam them for you free-of-charge if you want; or you can ice them down and take them home to cook yourself. We wanted them FRESH so they made the trip to our kitchen in a bucket of ice. Then after a quick scrub in the sink and they were ready for the pot.

We chose to steam these without crab boil seasoning so that we could enjoy the natural sweetness of the first crabs of the season.

Pop off the top shell and dig in.

As soon as January 1 rolls around I'm off to get my license; then look out crabs here I come.

Puffs, Tarts, and other edibles

When a wife likes to cook and a husband likes to eat - she gets satisfaction and he gets fat. But when both are done in moderation both benefit.

I grew up in the SOUTH; land of butter, lard, turnip greens, cornbread, fried chicken (or anything else), sweet iced tea, and lots of desserts.

My wife grew up overseas in the land of rice, noodles, stir-fry, and things not so sweet or salty.

BUT, she has adjusted well to life in the US including adopting a somewhat modified Paula Deen cooking style. Here are some things she has become "famous" for at our church pot-lucks and family dinners.

In order to "regulate" my intake, rather than make a pumpkin pie or a pecan pie she has chosen to make one-bite sized tarts. She recently invited a couple of her friends over to "practice" before the Thanksgiving holiday.

They made "generic" tart shells

Which could then be filled with pumpkin pie filling

Or pecan pie filling

And baked to perfection

In addition to desserts, her baking extends to the savory like curry puffs

Store-bought puff pastry takes a lot of work out of the process

Filling takes a lot of time

And the waiting .......

But it was worth it

Christmas Trees, Where Do They Come From? revisited 11/22/08

Earlier this week we were driving to see our daughter who lives "out in the country" about 15 miles west of us. I heard a helicopter as we travelled Highway 26 towards Manning. I slowed down and we saw it in the distance carrying a load from a cable suspended beneath it.

As we got closer we could see that it was ferrying bundles of Christmas trees.

They were being transported from a remote area of a tree farm where the trees were being cut, down to a work station where they were unloaded and put through a machine which enclosed them in a netting.

They were then being bundled for shipment.

We drove up a small country road to get closer and could see the tree farm.

We hoped to get a closer look but it was 3:00 and the workers shut down the operation on the dot. Typically it takes 8-10 years for this type of tree to reach harvesting size. So, if you buy a tree this year, you now have an idea of where it may have come from. In the Saturday Oregonian newspaper they had an article with these pictures describing the Christmas tree being placed in Pioneer Square, a public gathering place in downtown Portland.

That tree is 75 feet tall, weighs 7,500 pounds, and took 34 years to reach that size. Someone rightfully commented that they should plant a tree there and stop cutting one of these giants every year to put there, decorate, and watch it dry up.

pictures from The Oregonian website

We went to town a few days later and saw the tree still "under construction"

They are attaching braces and mounting brackets on additional branches.

These are then bolted onto the trunk to make the tree appear fuller.

As soon as the "construction" is competed they will add the lights and ornaments to the tree. Hope to get some more pictures then.

A Walk in the Neighborhood

We live in Aloha, Oregon - or maybe it's Beaverton, Oregon. The house address on the deed is Beaverton but the post office is Aloha. Aloha is a "census-designated unincorporated community" in Washington County http://www.alohaoregon.com/ . Beaverton is the closest "city". As you can guess, it got the name from that dam-building animal.

We haven't actually seen any but we have seen their work. We live near a watershed and park with a stream that is continually being dammed up by the critters.

That doesn't affect us but their sourcing of their dam materials does. The road behind our house was nicely landscaped with maple and oak trees about 6" in diameter. One day we went out and about 2/3 of the trees were gone and just pointed stumps left.

When we walked down to the creek area we saw that a large number of similar-sized trees had also been harvested for their dam project.

A few days later, one neighbor noted that a large tree just behind their property had been dropped and another was partially gnawed through.

The county came and cleared it out and cut other trees that might have fallen on their house if dropped by the beavers. I think the beavers were intimidated by the chain saws because they stopped work.

There are many easy to walk trails around our house, most are paved and maintained by the parks department.

Neighbors walk their dogs regularly and are encouraged to "pick-up" after the dogs; they even supply plastic bags for "waste removal".

They are very friendly and whenever they pass they pull in the dog or call it to them so as not to bother anyone. People who live along the walking trails even put out water dishes for "man's best friend".

There are playgrounds along the way for children to use

And picnic areas with tables and grills for public use

The houses lining the walk all have large decks overlooking the wooded area. You usually can see someone sunning themselves or preparing a BBQ supper

There are fruit trees all along the path; apples, pears, and a lot of blackberries

There are public tennis courts also maintained by the parks department

We try to remember to take along some stale bread to feed the ducks that are in residence at a pond along the way. They have gotten so smart that they post lookouts on a nearby fence to watch for anyone approaching

If they see any food being distributed they call the others to come, no need to waste that trip out of the water if there's nothing to eat.

They aren't scared of people and will gather around you as you are feeding them

After you've finished feeding them thay follow along for a while to be sure you don't have anything else for them

Sometimes they are joined by other feathered friends.


One day we even saw a gaggle of geese taking a rest on the local elementary school softball field during their migration

Sometimes the things observed are inanimate, like this "iron cowboy" silhouette leaning against a tree

There's obviously some meaning here that I've yet to discover

We observe all types of flowers and other growing things along the way.

A camellia that can't decide which side of the fence to grow on

Oregon Grapes that you can't eat

and Concord Grapes that you can eat - except they are in a neighbor's yard and they picked them later.

Sometimes the air takes on a yellow tinge as the pine pollen blows through the neighborhood

But later there are pine cones of all sizes and shapes to pick up for decorations and craft work

There are colorful crab apples, that taste surprisingly sweet

And "ordinary" apples, so plentiful that no one stops to pick them up

A single chestnut tree that doesn't get pollinated so the seed pods are beautiful but empty

And hazelnuts that never get a chance to mature before the squirrels eat them

Spiders of all shapes and colors await their prey

And I hope you are awaiting the next chapter in our introduction to our neighborhood.