Tree farm brings year-round Christmas to Havana

“It’s just not Christmas if you don’t have a live tree,” said Linda Sellars, the owner of the Havana Christmas Tree Farm.

For over 30 years, Sellars’ tree farm has been a facet of Christmas in East Gadsden County, an ever-present and evergreen reminder of the holiday season’s approach.

Located directly on Florida-Georgia Highway, south of Havana, the tree farm has been in operation since 1988, when Sellars and her husband opened the farm for a wintertime business.

Sellars said her husband wanted a business that made money year round - for the summertime, he opted to open a pool service company, and for the winter season, he opened the Christmas tree farm.

While Sellars’ husband passed away four years ago, leaving the brunt of the farm to her, Linda Sellars, now 70-years-old, says she keeps it going with a hardworking and dedicated staff who help put forth the hours to keep the farm operational.

Even with over 30 Christmases behind her, Sellars says she is still picking up new tricks of the trade with each passing holiday season.

“It is one of those things that you learn as you go,” said Sellars. “This year, I’ll learn something new and apply it to next year - then next year, it’s something different.”

At the Havana Christmas Tree Farm, customers are allowed to free roam the nearly 30-acres of planted Leyland Cypresses, Virginia Pines and Cedars.

The Havana Christmas Tree Farm, owned by Linda Sellars, is a source of locally-grown Christmas trees that keeps the spirit of the holidays evergreen 12-months out of the year.

The farm is self-service, so each customer is provided with a measuring stick to gauge the size of their selected tree and a saw to cut down their own tree - meanwhile, the farm’s employees are on hand to help bag the tree up, shake loose any stray straw, and then load it onto the customer’s vehicle.

“You don’t have to bring anything. You just have to come out, walk the grounds, find your tree, and if you need help - we’ve always got people here,” explains Sellars. “We aim for it to really be a sort of ‘family tradition’ thing.”

On Sellars’ 30 acre farm, she lives and works - selling trees, Christmas ornaments and decor in her gift shop, and creating light-up holiday yard art.

While the ornaments, decor, and yard art have their own draw on customers, Sellars says it is really the trees - grown in Gadsden County - that bring people to the farm.

“Everything is Christmas trees - just Christmas trees.”

In addition to her locally-grown trees, Sellars offers over 400 pre-cut Frasier firs, which she orders from North Carolina.

Despite the 2020 pandemic, Sellars ays her business has not slowed down - in fact, it has picked up.

The farm opens for business in late-November, and Sellars says she has gradually had to push her opening date closer and closer to the middle of November due to the high demand of her trees - she used to open after Thanksgiving, but is now opening the week before the Thanksgiving holiday.

“People are wanting to put up their trees earlier and earlier, so I’ve had to open earlier too,” she explains.

Like many other small business owners, Sellars said she was worried about how the pandemic would impact her business.

“I was really worried in 2020, that I just wasn’t going to make it,” said Sellars.

Instead, 2020 made her record books as one of the best years in her 30 years of business.

“I did not expect that.”

Sellars believes the boom in her business during 2020 was due to the fact that her farm is almost entirely outdoors, helping people feel safe during the pandemic, and that by November, folks were tired of being isolated at home.

“I think it was a relief for people to be able to take their kids out here. Some people would stay out here for 3-4 hours, some people brought picnic lunches and just sat out there under the trees - I didn’t care. It was just nice to see people,” said Sellars, adding that she could almost see the stress and tension from a turbulent year roll off the shoulders of her customers as they strolled through her tree farm.

Despite opening in November - and having the appearance of being closed the rest of the year - Sellars says she thinks people commonly have the misconception that tree farms are only busy around the holidays.

While she may only have seven weeks of actively selling trees, Sellars says she and her staff are busy year-round.

“I don’t think people realize how much work there is to have a Christmas tree farm, or just raising one Christmas tree. It’s a lot of work - a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.”

Whether planting the 2,500 - 3,500 new trees each year, staking out the younger trees, trimming older trees, fertilizing the grounds, or mowing, Sellars says there is always work to be done.

“It’s an all-year job just really tending to and taking care of the trees,” Sellars says.

And due to a larger season of opening, Sellars says each year is getting busier.

She is also seeing a higher demand for her yard art - which she makes herself.

Light-up yard art, themed for Christmas and depicting Santa, sleighs, reindeer, and other Christmas motifs, is something Sellars considers to be her personal art form.

“It’s tedious work - but I enjoy it,” she says.

She adds that the farm also stays busy in the fall season by offering packages to local photographers, allowing them to come onto the farm before the start of the selling season and host photoshoots amongst the Christmas trees.

While other businesses may be suffering from supply issues in 2021, Sellars says she is not having any issues, as her trees are either grown on the property or trucked down from North Carolina - the only place where she’s experiencing backorders is with Christmas ornaments.

“I was sweating about getting my Frasier firs. I called my guy this year and asked if I was going to have problems, and he said I wouldn’t, and I got them in on time,” said Sellars.

Those who have shopped in box stores for an artificial tree may have seen emptier than normal store shelves, but finding a live tree isn't a problem at the Havana Christmas Tree Farm.

Accessibility isn’t the only benefit to a live tree, Sellars says.

“Fake trees are just artificial and a live one...it’s alive,” said Sellars. “I grew up with a live tree and I just prefer it. I have so many people that are coming in now, and they’ve never had a live tree before and they are just so excited about it.”

The hard work is definitely a trial, Sellars says, but owning and running the farm has its own set of joys - namely, seeing the joy in other human beings.

“The joy of seeing the people come out, selecting a tree, and spending family time together makes it worthwhile,” said Sellars. “It’s still something that brings a family together. You see a mother, father, and kids come out here and select a tree and sometimes, it’s one of the few things they all still do together. It’s rewarding. At the end of the season, it’s always rewarding.”

Ashley Hunter - editor@gadsdencountytimes.com

Tree farm brings year-round Christmas to Havana

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Tree farm brings year-round Christmas to Havana

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Gadsden County Times Legals – 12/23

Florida Forest Service to celebrate Florida Arbor Day with tree quiz bowl at Bear Creek Educational Forest

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