There’s less than three weeks to go until Christmas and most people are focusing on getting their tree up and ready, but if you haven’t bought yours yet, you may want to check out Double Shovel Christmas Tree Farm in Post.
“There’s just something special about having a real Christmas tree in your home…the freshness of it, the smell, the feel,” says Charles Webb, Co-Owner of Double Trouble Christmas Tree Farm.
Webb says what makes his business unique is that it is a ‘choose and cut’ farm, the only one of its kind on the South Plains. For 50 dollars, you can choose any size tree, cut it yourself, and take it home.
“The family goes around and finds the tree that they want. Then they cut it down,” Charles says.
The farm has all the necessary items you need to cut down the tree and even tie it to your car.
“We planted our first trees in March of 2009. It takes about four years or so to grow an Afghan Pine, and so Christmas in 2012 was when we sold our first Christmas trees and so this is our fifth season selling,” Charles says.
“550 trees were planted here with two shovels. My husband and son dug every hole in this field, so that’s why we’re called the Double Shovel,” says Jan Webb, Charles’s wife and also co-owner of the farm.
The tree farm is something the couple decided they wanted to bring to West Texas based on their own family Christmas tradition. They were an Air Force family of 25 years, so they moved around all the time. Christmas was always an important holiday for the Webb family and Jan says it helped them maintain their roots.
“Christmas trees have always been really important to us and we’ve always had a real one. No matter where we went, we’d try to find a tree farm if we could and take our kids out to cut the tree down,” Jan says.
Jan and Charles say their family has always been close and starting this tree farm has just made that bond stronger. It’s a way to bring a fun and unique family experience to the local area, while also doing something productive with their land.
“We’re not in a volume business, so if we have 50 or 60 families come out, we’re thrilled to death and we’re glad to bring a little bit of Christmas cheer to their family with a wonderful tradition of coming and cutting a real Christmas tree,” Charles says.
All of the trees are one variety called the Afghan Pines, which the Webb’s say are a drought resistant Christmas tree.
“It’s really about the only Christmas tree you can grow in West Texas. It makes a difference that they are drought resistant trees, because they survive very well in drought conditions like what we had a few years ago,” Charles says.
The farm will be selling trees until noon on Christmas Eve. They are open on Fridays from 3 – 5:30 pm, Saturdays 10 am – 5 pm, and Sundays 1 – 5pm. They are also available Monday through Thursday by appointment only. Double Shovel Christmas Tree Farm is located right off Highway 84 before you hit the town of Post. For more information, you can check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/DoubleShovelChristmasTreeFarm
