DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — At St. Nick's Tree Farm in Sturgeon Bay, the Hoffmann family has made their way down to their last few trees before Christmas.
- St Nick's Tree Farm selection of Christmas trees they have 10 days before Christmas
- The Hoffmann family describes what this tree season has been like for them
- Liz Hansen who lives in Door County explaining why she continues to buy real Christmas trees
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
"My vision is like Christmas Disneyland," Heather Hoffmann said.
Heather and Nick Hoffmann own St. Nick's Tree Farm in Sturgeon Bay, which started out small.
"I planted a couple trees for my retirement, just plant a couple, sell a couple trees I'll be very happy," Nick Hoffmann said.
But quickly, turned into a big tree farm.
"Then my wife got a hold of it and it's blossomed ever since," Nick Hoffmann said.
This year brought new challenges. A Christmas tree shortage due to multiple factors like Hurricane Helene and a drought in the Northeast but had a small impact on the Hoffmann family.
"The tree farmers that we do purchase our trees from, they've seen a 35% percent to 40% decrease in tree sales," Nick Hoffmann said.
But this small tree farm got every tree they ordered and sold most of them.
"This is what we have left out of 375 trees, so it's been a fantastic year," Nick Hoffmann said.
This is Liz Hansen's third year buying a tree from St. Nick's.
"Part of the real part of Christmas I think is having pine boughs and the pine inside is very Scandinavian, and there's something just so special about it," Hansen said.
With just 10 days until Christmas they're nearing the end of their selection, marking the end of a successful holiday season, in Sturgeon Bay.
"We exceeded last year by a lot, it's been a great season and we never know how much to make. We're still growing so we're still kinda feeling out where we need to be and how much we need to make," Nick and Heather Hoffmann said.
St. Nick’s Tree Farm says it takes about six to eight years between planting and harvesting for a tree to be ready to sell. So it might take awhile for the tree shortage to end.
