TREMPEALEAU, Wis. (WKBT) — For many households, chopping down your individual Christmas tree is custom. If its yours– you may be seeing fewer choices. Lamke Tree Farm, a household business in Trempealeau, is closing its gates forward of the season.
“This would be our 58th year being open,” mentioned Paul Lamke, a second era tree farmer. “Every year that I remember, I’ve been here. It has really been wonderful.”
For the Lamkes, it’s also custom to welcome households onto their farm.
“Dad bought the property in the late 50s—it was very inexpensive land at the time—and he had the vision of starting a tree farm,” Lamke mentioned.
A household business– now on its third era. Emma Usgaard, Lamke’s daughter, seems to be again on every vacation season and planting season fondly.
“Cousins, aunts, uncles, my sister and my parents. Grandpa, grandma even at times. It’s sad now that we don’t have grandpa here—he was really integral to the tree farm. He started it way back when,” Usgaard mentioned.
Thanksgiving weekend is usually busy. But not this 12 months.
“Generally, we have about 1,000 that would be cuttable,” Lamke mentioned. “When we plant, the drought conditions or the dryness just at the wrong time of year has taken out a lot of numbers.”
Lamke says that this vacation season, their gates are closed.
“We have been limiting our sales,” Lamke mentioned. “We do not have the numbers and we got behind the power curve.”
Low provide is one thing he and his daughter Emma say has been a very long time coming.
Last 12 months, the farm was solely open for one weekend.
“The last couple of years, honestly, I’m sure people who have come out here have noticed—we’re pretty short on full-size Christmas trees,” Usgaard mentioned.
That doesn’t imply the farm will shut for good.
“We are looking forward to, in a season or two, to be fully open again,” Lamke mentioned.
Focusing on progress, hoping to maintain custom alive for years to return.
Lamke mentioned there are about 8,000 timber rising on the farm– and timber can take wherever between 8 and 12 years to develop to the proper Christmas tree top.
The household mentioned lots of the timber ought to be prepared for households in two or three years.
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