 | Every year right around thanksgiving we head over to Peltzer Pines tree farm, check them out here: www.peltzerpines.com. Be sure to appreciate the awesome retro picture on the main page. We pick out our tree and then pick it up later.
I've been going for probably over ten years now, and my beautiful wife has been joining me for the last five. This year marked little dudes second visit, and this time was much more fun for him. It's a lot of fun, and a great family tradition. Little dude loved running around and exploring, and since there is a huge selection of trees there it was pretty much endless fun. |
| I should note that trees here are not the cheapest. Average price at say home depot is 35-40 bucks a tree, the cheapest tree we saw was $47. But, you can't beat the freshness. Peltzer Pines has two different types of trees, your traditional pine tree Monterey Pine and a Leyland Cypress, which is unique to Peltzer, we like the tree because it doesn't have any pointy needles , and doesn't shed it's "leaves" like pines do, making it very baby friendly.
Overall we enjoy the experience and will continue to go back. |
 | I’m the fake tree kind—the one who puts up the same metal and plastic Christmas tree each year. Although I love everything about fresh pine, the look, the feel and the smell, I see no reason to make the switch. I just don’t think I can handle the huge event of trussing up the tree on top of my van, hauling it into my home, worrying about whether it’s going to turn brown by Christmas and then finally hauling it back out onto the curb. I am perfectly happy with my knock-down, seven-foot PVC ‘Douglas fir’ tree. My house is surrounded by evergreens of all kinds–several Cypresses in my backyard,a Ponderosa pine by the fence and a towering Cook pine in front which we decorate with big red Christmas balls and lights during the holidays. |
| Meanwhile, it’s been a family tradition of mine to go around looking for Christmas trees. It’s a fun weekend activity, with lots of photo opportunities (Christmas cards?). I went to Peltzer Pines Christmas tree Farms. The last time I was there were a couple of years ago. If you’re looking to buy a tree, this is a great place to get it instead of the usual tree lot. You choose and cut your very own Christmas tree.
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 | We've had an artificial Christmas tree for as long as I can remember. Our children have never had a live tree in their house, until now. Not being enthusiastic about live trees I was apprehensive about the process of acquiring a tree, not just any tree mind you, but the first tree of our children's lives. I ran through the list of usual tree selling suspects, home depot, various tents around the neighborhood, and then saw a sign for Orange County Christmas tree nirvana... Peltzer Pines 7 miles that way. Now granted, we're talking Orange County here, so pine trees are not exactly growing on every corner. Orange County is a desert turned green by copious amounts of water delivered from Northern California every day. Peltzer Pines is a small farm that has been growing Christmas trees for 40 years. And with that experience, they have completely nailed the process of acquiring a Christmas tree. There are lessons to be learned... |
| | Simple works. There are no rfid tags, bar code scanners or even credit card machines on the tree farm. There's a two part tag on every tree. You wander the farm until you find the tree that calls your name; you rip off part of the tag, pay for it, and then have a handy lumberjack cut down your tree. Said lumberjack will even clean it up, fit it for your stand, hoist in on your vehicle of choice and tie it down. Simple, easy, immediately understandable, and can be operating by children. They do one thing, and they do that one thing extremely well. Directly relevant up sells never feel pushed. The only options for dropping more money were delivery and a tree stand. The tree stand was designed Mr. Peltzer and like everything else we experienced, is simple, good quality and just plain works. The up sells were easily accessible throughout the process and never pushed; the lumberjack and cashier simply said "We can deliver if you want, and here's a stand that works better than what you have now." A quality product never has to shout we're the best. I've seen the trees in parking lot tents and piled in front of Home Depot. 30 seconds into wandering the farm, it was immediately obvious that these trees were better; that cutting my tree down and taking it home same day was better; that this process was better. Their signs don't shout we're number 1, or we're better than Joe's tree shack on the corner. Live trees! Cut yours and take it home the same day. It's just better. No need to shout it. Help should be there when you want it, but not in your face. Half the fun was chasing our kids through the trees and yelling, "Look at this one, no wait, how about at this one, but then there's this one over here." There was no hovering sales staff, but help was there when you wanted it. Mr. Peltzer was greeting people as they arrived and answering questions, the lumberjacks had lots of tree care tips and the whole staff knew way more about Christmas trees than I did. Friendly, knowledgeable, and accessible. Perfect. So a tip of the hat to Peltzer Pines! They got it right. Oh, and you can save $6.00 with a coupon found on their web site www.peltzerpines.com |
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