Christmas Tree Farm Odyssey, Part I: Sebastopol

With Thanksgiving now a pleasant memory, it's time to start thinking of getting that must-have of the holiday season, the Christmas tree. There are those practical people who merely unpack the artificial tree from its storage boxes, and assemble it in the living room, pre-wired, perfectly shaped and sized, and flame-resistant. Then there are those of us who have to have the real deal, despite the inconvenience. There are a number of Christmas tree lots in Marin (we've gone to Pronzini's Christmas Trees near the Marin Civic Center in years past, and had a great experience there), as well as Home Depot, Target, Safeway, and other places to get trees at good prices. But to the romantics among us, nothing quite beats the experience of going to a real Christmas tree farm and cutting the thing down ourselves. And of course it's a great family photo op and usually a lot of fun, too. Surely it's one of my fondest childhood memories.

Admittedly, there aren't too many Christmas tree farms in Marin. There is a small farm of sorts in Novato on McClay Road, but we'll deal with that in a later post. To get the real Christmas tree farm experience within close proximity to Marin, you have to head north to rural Sonoma County. Most tree farms seem to be clustered around Sebastopol and Petaluma, with a few in the Sonoma and Santa Rosa areas. We recently checked out three Christmas tree farms sited in the rolling hills southwest of Sebastopol: Garlock Tree Farm, Reindeer Ridge Tree Farm, and Frosty Mountain Tree Farm. All three farms, we found out after the fact, are operated by branches of the same family.

Garlock Tree Farm

Garlock tree farm is located at 2275 Bloomfield Road, on 10 acres of conifer-covered countryside, where they've been growing and selling Christmas trees since 1966. They offer an assortment of tree varieties, including Douglas Fir, White Fir, Monterey Pine, Scotch Pine, Sequoias, and pre-cut Noble Firs. Saws and carts are available, and for an nominal extra fee they'll shake your tree free of loose needles and any creepy-crawlies that may have taken up residence in it and bundle it for easier transport.

They also offer free horse-drawn carriage rides around the farm and complimentary coffee and candy canes. There's a small gift shop where ornaments, tree-related paraphernalia, and snacks like popcorn and hot apple cider are available. The service at this family-run farm is friendly and we found ourselves chatting with several generations of the family, including Sally Garlock, one of the farm's original owners. If all that isn't enough, there's a bounce house ($1 per kid) and, this being the Bay Area, a Hardcore Espresso stand selling organic coffee drinks.

This year Garlock Tree Farm is open November 23 through December 16, Fridays from noon to 5 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 am to 5 pm. For more information, visit their website: garlocktreefarm.com or call (707) 823-4307. There's a printable coupon on the site for $2 off a tree.

Reindeer Ridge Farm

More-or-less around the corner from Garlock Tree Farm, at 3500 Mariola Road, is Reindeer Ridge Farm. Offering pretty much the same tree selection and services as the previous farm, Reindeer Ridge had tractor-drawn hay rides for customers, and a gift shop and snack bar in a large shed.

The gift shop, with a warm fireplace blazing merrily away in one corner, offered a wide variety of ornaments and Christmas decorations. The snack bar served up popcorn, hot cider, and hot dogs and bratwurst from the grill outside. There's also a espresso stand from Hardcore on site selling coffee drinks. The views from Reindeer Ridge are pretty spectacular, too. Open weekdays 11 am to 6 pm, weekends 9 am to 6 pm. Call (707) 829-1569 for information.

Frosty Mountain Tree Farm

Frosty Mountain Tree Farm, at 3600 Mariola Road, is adjacent to Reindeer Ridge Farm. It's literally just on the other side of the fence, and people were walking down the road from one farm to the other during our visit. Frosty Mountain, like the other two farms we visited, offered a variety of trees ranging from cut-your-own Douglas Firs, Monterey Pines, and Sequoia Redwoods to pre-cut Noble Firs from Oregon. They'll also shake your tree, and they'll bundle it with netting and drill a hole for stand-mounting free of charge. Stands are sold on-site, too.

In addition, free tractor-drawn hay rides are offered, as well as a farm animals for children to visit. In the big red barn, a former apple-packing barn, there's Santa's Workshop, a large gift shop selling the requisite ornaments and stuff, as well as Mrs. Klaus' Kitchen, offering hot cider, popcorn, apple fritters, and cookies. There was also—wait for it—a coffee stand operated by Hardcore espresso, which apparently has the whole Christmas tree farm caffeinated beverage market sewed up.

Frosty Mountain Tree Farm is open weekdays from noon to 5 pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm. Information: www.frostymountaintreefarm.com or (707) 829-2351.

All three farms accept cash, checks, and credit cards.

How to Get There

From Marin, take 101 North to the Gravenstein Highway (116) exit and head west towards Sebastopol. Turn left onto Bloomfield Road and follow it to where it intersects with Kennedy Road. To get to Garlock Tree Farm, continue south on Bloomfield Road. To reach Reindeer Ridge and Frosty Mountain, head onto Kennedy Road and turn left onto Mariola Road.

There are plenty of other tree farms in the Sebastopol area. To see a listing, go to the Sonoma County Farm Trails website: www.farmtrails.org.

Next stop: Petaluma.