Jones Family Farms in Shelton is taking extra care of its smaller crops of Christmas trees as the drought-like conditions continue.
Families looking to buy a Christmas tree at a local tree farm will have more than plenty to pick from at Jones Family Farms.
Farmer Jamie Jones said their Christmas tree stock grew beautifully over the past year despite the past few months of dry weather.
“Normally late fall is the time we’re worried about having too much water, ironically this year, it's not enough,” Jones said.
Jones said he’s noticed the lack of rainfall this year in comparison to last year, and has found himself using his irrigation system to water the little Christmas trees, much later this year than in the past.
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“Their root systems are more at the top of the soil, which are starting to die out, those are the crops that we’ve needed to irrigate right up to October and even November, which is really highly unusual," Jones said.
At Jones Family Farms, Jones is able to use the ponds spread across the land to power his irrigation system.
He said he realizes how lucky he is to be able to have that resource but as a farmer, he said it's a fine line when you have access to a resource other farmers don't.
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While the Christmas trees grew well this time around, Jones said they have taken extra precautions to ensure the growth of Christmas trees yet to come, such as using sorghum grass.
“That [sorghum grass] is a cover crop that we grow to improve the organic matter in the soil, we know soil is more resilient, both in dry times and wet times,” Jones said.
As people prepare to buy their Christmas trees, Jones suggested adding more water to the tree stand.
“You just have to be extra careful to keep that tree well watered cause if it's not fully hydrated, it might suck up more water than it would in a typical year," Jones said.
Jones Family Farms will begin selling Christmas trees on Nov. 23.
