JAVA — Ed Little patiently watched a young woman lead a small dog through his tree farm on a Christmas Eve.
The woman paced back and forth, inspecting each tree.
“It was so cold you couldn’t stand it,” Little said, looking over his Christmas tree farm off Route 57 in Java.
Finally, she walked up and pointed out her prize. Little hustled over with the chainsaw and loaded the tree.
“It tickled her to death,” Little said.
Little, who planted trees on his family’s farm over 30 years ago, offers fresh-cut Christmas trees.
“I just mess with them,” Little said.
For years, Little set up a tree lot in North Carolina, selling 300 to 400 trees a season.
He scaled back over the years, unloading 40 to 50 trees a season directly off the farm.
“You put a smile on somebody’s face,” Little said.
Piedmont Tree Farm
Wayne Compton’s Long Island home is festively decorated with green wreaths and red bows.
His Christmas trees are the main attraction.
“Some people make an annual trip of that,” Compton said.
Compton offers fresh-cut Christmas trees on his farm on Moons Road.
He grows white pine, Scotch pine, Leyland cypress, and Norway spruce.
Compton, 70, planted the trees after purchasing his family’s tobacco farm.
“I knew tobacco was going out of business,” Compton said. “We could see the writing on the wall as far back as the 80s.”
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