Summer drought leaves Christmas tree tradition in danger
HAVERHILL - Now that Thanksgiving is over, many turn to celebrate Christmas. However, Christmas trees might be in short supply this year.
Getting the Christmas tree is a post-Thanksgiving tradition for many families. The Steenstrups, of Newton, skipped the outlet malls. Instead, they scoured Turkey Hill Farm in Haverhill for the perfect tree, and cut it down themselves.
"You want symmetry," said Isabella Steenstrup. "Just go for one that's not weird looking.
However, the trees themselves are suffering after the hot, dry summer.
"They're definitely shorter, but we found a good one. (I feel like a few more dead trees that are orange and the leaves are like bleh," said Diane Butt of Turkey Hill Farm. "This has never happened before. It's a lot more."
There are dozens of dead trees on the farm. Butt, who has been running the family business for decades. She says that severe summer heat killed more than 2,000 Christmas trees.
"It's kind of sickening because it's very sad. Some of these trees... the little ones even have been here in 2-3 years and they're dead." Butt said.
Christmas tree farmers typically see more customers than they have trees, and with the summer drought, they're worried about what this means for production. Not just this year but for years to come.
"In about six, seven, eight years we're going to have low inventory unless we catch up somehow."
Growers say they're keeping an eye on the Christmas trees that survived the summer drought hoping to find a solution that keeps this holiday tradition going.
