UPFRONT ISLAND LIFE

It rained constantly and there was lots of mud at Natalie and Jared Mendham’s Christmas Tree Farm open day, but that didn’t stop the crowds.

“It was pouring from start to finish, but everyone was in such good spirits,” Natalie says of the hundreds of families who turned up to buy Christmas trees grown at their 10ha Richmond property on December 1.

“We were soaking wet and Jared was covered in mud because he was helping cars out of our driveway, which was horrifically boggy.”

The couple are shown after the event enjoying a pinot noir by Coal Valley vineyard Back Paddock, which had an onsite bar in a van at the four-hour treepurchasing frenzy. The Mendhams were inspired to grow and sell Christmas trees after living in Vancouver, Canada, where it’s common to select and harvest your own farmed tree.

“It started about six years ago when we arrived back from Canada and planted about 1000 trees,” says Natalie, a commercial photographer.

“We now have a few thousand. We didn’t know it would be so popular. If we could, we would let them grow bigger, but we can’t grow them fast enough to keep up with demand. The smallest trees are about three-and-a-half to four years old.

“We had a call from Government House for a tree to fill their beautiful stairwell area. We couldn’t do it – we just can’t hang onto them long enough.”

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