By James Ronald Skains
Journal Correspondent

Christmas trees, arts and crafts, and syrup making are all at the same place and time if you visit the annual three days of Fall Harvest Festivities at the Grant Christmas Tree Farm and Syrup Mill in northwest Allen parish.

"It all started way back when I retired from the Port of Beaumont after 30 years. My wife and I decided to move back to the little community of Grant," Huey Davis told the Piney Woods Journal. "I had somewhere gotten the bright idea of growing Christmas trees. They didn't grow too well the first couple of years and I started three or four times just to bush hog them down but my wife said to be patient."

"Finally the trees begin to grow and we learned more of what we were doing," Davis, who is the father of Mollie Anderson who now owns and operates with her husband Gray, the Grant Christmas Tree farm noted.

"My father-in-law, Lovie Garlington had grown cane and made syrup for years and I usually helped him each year," Davis pointed out. "So when I retired and Kathleen and I started the Christmas tree farm in 1983, I picked up that tradition and moved the syrup making over to our Christmas Tree operation."

"We usually make between 700 and a 1,000 gallons of syrup each year," Davis explained. "It's as sweet as maple syrup but is a little darker and thicker. We grow two types of cane, 845 New Cane and 290 old cane."

"During Festival time, we grind cane the day before and let it settle," Davis pointed out. "As long as the temperature of the juice is below 50 degrees, it won't sour. However, we always pre-heat the juice before we start making syrup just to make sure we kill all the bacteria."

The Fall Harvest Festival takes place on three consecutive Saturdays following Thanksgiving Day. Most of the activities take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Festival Days, however, the Farm's normal business hours are 8 a.m. till 6 p.m.

During the Festival, sausage, and biscuit are cooked on a wood stove and the homemade syrup is served in the cookhouse restaurant. Also, containers of the "homemade syrup" are available at the gift shop which is housed in a rustic old country type building. The Gift Shop is chocked full of homemade goodies to eat and other unique items.

Also, at Festival time, Jake the Donkey operates the old fashion cane crushing mill by dutifully turning the crusher by walking in a circle pulling a long pole tied to his harness. Each move of the lead pole grinds more cane with the juice dropping into a catch tub.

In addition to making syrup and picking out Christmas trees the Fall Harvest includes arts and craft exhibits as well as blue grass and gospel music shows. A special section in the arts and craft area is reserved for "spinners and weavers" who bring their spinning wheels and showcase their art from years past.

Most "spinners and weavers" bring a good supply of their woven goods to sell. Other crafters who regularly participate are wood workers and basket weavers plus water color artist.

"We also have school tours starting the first Monday of November," Mollie Anderson told the Journal. "We show the students how we root, grow and trim the trees. It actually takes a lot of work to grow Christmas trees. Its an on-going job of pruning and cultivating the trees. In addition, we must keep the grass mowed between the rows of trees."

School tours include a hayride for the kids around the farm and several goats and other animals to pet. During the three Saturdays of Fall Harvest Festival, Hayrides are a big part of the activities for the kids. The Hayrides are operated as fundraisers by local Church Youth Ministries.

The school tours are typically booked one to two years in advance and are a very popular outing for school kids in southwest Louisiana. School tours are normally only given in the first three weeks of November each year.

The Christmas trees at the Grant Farm are of two basic species with a couple of varieties. Primarily the Christmas trees are Leyland Cypress and Virginia Pines with some crosses known as Leighton Green and Castlewallan Gold which is a cross between an Alaskan Cedar and a Monterey Cypress.

There are usually about 2,500 trees to choose from each year at Grant and pre-tagging with a deposit starts the first of November each year. Actual cutting of the trees starts at 1:30 PM on Thanksgiving Day. There are three basic height trees available, 5', 7' and 10.' The growing cycle for Christmas trees is at least four years depending in most on the height of the tree.

"Water is the key to having a good looking tree after it is cut," Davis explained. "If the tree doesn't have access to water, the tree trunk seals and the tree begins to deteriorate. A tree can drink two gallons of water in 12 hours."

"A Virginia Pine in a water bucket will look great even a month after it is cut," Davis, who still very much involved in his daughter and son-in-law's operation pointed out. "On the other hand, a Leyland cypress tree will look good for five months before it begins to deteriorate if it is in a bucket of water."

Water bowls with the tree stands are available at the Farm and mounting is free. With the water bucket giving the tree plenty of water to drink, the tree is basically fire proof.

Mollie and Gray Anderson have five children, three girls, Mary Beth, Bailey, and Laura and two boys, Seth Thomas and Nathan Louis that they are raising on the Farm in addition to nearly 7,500 Christmas trees.

In addition to working on the Farm, Gray owns and operates a machine shop in nearby Elizabeth where he builds custom designed metal buildings of all sizes and shapes. The Grant Christmas Tree Farm and Syrup Mill is located at 786 Whitaker Road in Grant, Louisiana. Whitaker Road turns to the left off Louisiana Highway 377 just past the Grant School. Hwy 377 turns north about 12 miles west of Oberlin off Hwy 26 which runs between Oberlin and DeRidder.

Back