For the Brusven family, Christmas trees are not just a holiday tradition, but an everyday experience.
Annette Brusven, a long-time Palouse resident, grew up around acres upon acres of trees at her family’s Christmas tree farm in North Idaho. Raising Christmas trees from seedlings to holiday main staples has become second nature to her.
“We really work hard to make sure every single tree is ready for a family,” Annette said. “Most of the fun for us is having people come out to the farm and get the experience of picking the tree for themselves.”
Annette Brusven, owner, sets up the hospitality stand Sunday at Spring Valley Family Tree Farm.
Annette and her husband, Paul Brusven, bought over 30 acres of land, once used as a horse ranch in Troy, Idaho, in 2004. Once purchased, the Brusvens immediately began putting down roots at the Spring Valley Tree Farm — mostly in tree form.
Christmas trees take eight to 12 years to fully grow and become ready for customers, Annette said. After years of planting and waiting, the family’s first set of trees became ready for sale in 2013, marking the business’s five-year anniversary.
“In our first year, we were happy with selling 30 trees,” Annette said. “Last year, we sold about 600 — so, I’d say we have grown quite a bit.”
There are roughly 10,000 trees slowly growing on their land, waiting to be chopped down and sent home, Paul said. He said the perfect triangle-shaped tree most people bring into their homes during the holiday season doesn’t grow in like that.
“A lot of people think of picking up a tree in some parking lot in town, but it doesn’t quite work that way,” Annette said. “First they take time to grow, prune and shape. And after years of tedious work, they end up looking like the Christmas trees we know and love.”
Annette and Paul both said their fathers were central figures in them gaining experience in the horticulture and forestry aspects of maintaining a tree farm. As second-generation University of Idaho graduates, Paul said he and Annette learned much of their business and farming sense from their parents and the university. Annette graduated with a degree in horticulture before working at UI’s Pitkin Forest Nursery as a researcher. Paul graduated with a degree in agriculture.
“Her passion for forestry and my passion for farming meant we found the perfect solution in a tree farm,” Paul said. “We followed our dream. It’s truly a perfect match.”
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A family is able to freshly cut their tree at Sping Valley Family Tree Farm Sunday.
The couple’s recent goal is to become a more sustainable and natural tree farm for the good of their trees and customers. Following in their parents’ footsteps, both Tessa and Cole Brusven — Paul and Annette’s two children — chose UI. Using her love of trees and recent business degree from UI to help grow the family business, Tessa now runs the farm gift shop. Housed in a large red barn on the farm, the family sells locally-created decorations and goods from all over the Palouse.
“When I was younger, I never wanted to plant trees. But, as I’ve grown up, I realized I’ve been given this amazing opportunity to work with my family and help carry on what we’ve built,” Tessa said. “I’m glad I can put my degree to use like my parents did with theirs.”
Tessa said the gift shop first began selling homemade goods from her grandmother, mother and a few friends. Now, the shop sells hundreds of different items.
“People keep coming back, and we just start familiarizing ourselves with one another,” Tessa said. “I can’t think of a better place to live and work.”
In the rush of helping so many other families with their own trees, Annette said their Christmas celebration takes place outside on the farm just as much as it does in their home.
“This is what the holiday is for us now,” Annette said. “It’s become so addictive, that we get sad when Christmas is over and realize we have to wait another whole year.”
As Dec. 25 draws closer, Annette said the farm will become busier with each passing weekend.
“We often sell a large amount of trees a weekend or two before Christmas Day,” Annette said. “And we’ve been known to sell a tree or two on the day of.”
Now with a new home built on their farm, the family hopes to expand their business into a more year-round staple for the Palouse by offering berries and other goods.
For now, their best seller is Christmas tradition and cheer, Paul said.
“Our greatest joy is seeing families come back year after year. Some start out as just two. Then the next year they bring a baby. Before you know it, the whole family comes to pick out a tree,” Paul said. “It’s one of the most magical things we get the chance to witness.”
Hailey Stewart can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @HaileyAStew