Page 72 - The Hunt - Winter 2022

A local family finds the perfect
tree at Wiggins Farm—and so
did the Grinch (below).
(Opposite page) Gruber heads out to check on the progress of this season’s trees at Old Stone Farm.
Old Stone Farm usually sells out at some point every year, cutting 300-400 trees
a weekend in mature fields until all the available options are gone. “We’re expanding because other people are getting smaller or getting out,” says Mark, who retired from his engineering career earlier this year. “But it takes seven years to expand. You can do it one year at a time, but it still takes that much time to see the results of expansion. It’s gradual.”
What goes in the ground every spring (allowing roots to expand through summer and fall) has changed drastically. In the 1970s, it was all Scotch pine—something most local growers haven’t planted at all in the past
30 years. Popularity gravitated toward the Douglas fir, and now the most popular tree is a Fraser fir—and interest is spiking in exotic firs. Old Stone Farm features mostly Douglas, Fraser, Concolor and Canaan firs, many of which are visible through wide second-floor double doors in the 150-year-old restored barn overlooking the acreage.
70 THE HUNT MAGAZINE winter 2022-23