Spring Brook Farm - Christmas Trees

Our Story

My wife, Beth, and I started looking for land in 1996. She would find an ad for “land for sale”, and we would drive out and look it over on a weekend. We had criteria; it had to be at least 50 acres, raw land, in West Georgia, with a stream and a pond, or a place to build a pond. Of course, we would have to be able to afford it. We looked for three years with no luck. Then she saw an ad for land on Mandeville Rd. in Carroll County and we drove out to look. The first thing we saw was a two-acre field of kudzu and briers. We got out of the car to walk the property anyway. Behind the kudzu field was beautiful rolling hills with hardwood trees. It also had a stream and a place to build a pond. It was exactly what we were looking for except for the kudzu. I made what I thought was a low offer and the owners took it without negotiating. We closed in January 1999.

Every weekend, we would rent a tractor with a bush hog attached, and we would work on trying to reclaim the kudzu field. Sometimes our friends would help. It was hard work and a struggle, but we had it finished in about a year. Looking out over the reclaimed field, Beth said with a big smile, “Wouldn’t it be great if we planted Christmas Trees?” I was blindsided, she had never hinted at this before. “Let’s plant them for our kids and our friends”, she said. I said, “That’s a lot of work. If we are going to do it, we’ll make a business of it.” “OK”, she said.

 ...