HOLIDAY UNVEILING
Boulder Brook Farm, a new Christmas tree farm, to open soon for its first season.
MALTA, N.Y. » Christmas tree farmer Peter Brooks has spent the better part of the last decade preparing for this year’s holiday season, when Boulder Brook Farm finally opens for business.
“As long as I can remember I’ve always wanted to grow Christmas trees,” said Brooks, who is pursuing this new agricultural endeavor in his retirement.
But without a family farm to inherit, starting a new Christmas tree farm takes time.
“It takes eight to 10 years to grow a harvestable size Christmas tree,” explained Brooks, an environmentalist who spent part of his career in the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Division of Lands and Forests.
This year, Boulder Brook Farm’s first Christmas tree crop is ready, and later this month the new farm will make its public debut.
Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, all are invited to visit Boulder Brook Farm in Malta, where customers can cut their own Christmas tree or select one that’s pre- cut.
The 26-acre farm has a large field with about 4,000 Fraser Fir and Canaan Fir trees, along with some spruces that will be ready to harvest in years to come.
For those who choose to cut their own tree, Boulder Brook Farm provides a saw for cutting and a sled to transport the tree, as well as shaking, baling and tie- down services.
“All they have to bring is themselves, and be dressed for the weather,” said Brooks, who is the president-elect of the Christmas Tree Farmers Association of New York.
In starting Boulder Brook Farm, Brooks aims to offer area families not just trees, but a memorable experience that involves family, tradition, the outdoors - and a bit of history too.
Boulder Brook Farm was designed to emphasize the historic nature of the farm, which started in the 1700s as one of the first homesteads in the area.
Set between Malta Ridge and Saratoga Lake, the historically landmarked Chase Farm property has held many different uses prior to its most recent chapter as a Christmas tree farm.
“You come up this little hill and you kind of feel like you’ve stepped back in time,” Brooks said. “That’s the feeling that I want people to have.”
A barn originally built around the turn of the nineteenth century has been relocated and restored to serve as the farm’s Christmas Barn. “A lot of thought and effort and research went into trying to make that barn as authentic as it could be, to what it originally was,”
Brooks shared.
Inside, guests can warm up while sipping complimentary mulled cider and browsing the barn’s collection of antique sleds and an exhibit on ice harvesting.
The barn will also house a holiday shop selling tree stands, wreaths, greens, ornaments, handmade soap, maple syrup and local honey made right at the farm.
Located just a few miles south of Saratoga Springs at 5186 Nelson Ave. Ext. in Malta, Boulder Brook Farm will be open for business from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting the day after Thanksgiving and each weekend (Saturday and Sunday) until Christmas.
The farm’s grand opening weekend, Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, will include a live hawk and owl presentation and the soft melodies of a hammer dulcimer musician.
Looking ahead, Brooks’ ultimate goal for Boulder Brook Farm is “to create and continue this very traditional experience for families and kids to have, that they will always remember,” he said. “I just want to be part of that long tradition of celebrating Christmas.”
Additionally, “This is an opportunity to get people, and especially kids, outdoors,” Brooks said, “and I want to make sure that having some kind of outdoor experience with nature continues to be a part of people’s experiences.”
Brooks runs Boulder Brook Farm with the help of his family, who he hopes will continue operating the Christmas tree farm for future generations to enjoy.