With Christmas under two weeks away, plenty of people could be spotted hunting for their Christmas tree at Fallowfield Tree Farm in Stittsville on Saturday, even the prime minister. As the holiday countdown continues, business continues to boom for the Ottawa-area tree farm and residents in the nation’s capital say it’s not too late to find the perfect tree. Tanya Marchenko and her family picked out the largest tree they could find at the Stittsville tree farm. The family said they still had plenty of options to pick from and ended up heading home with an 8.5-foot tree. “It’s a struggle,” jokes Marchenko of her family of four deciding on a tree. “Every year we end up with a tree that is larger than what we need, and then it’s a game of cutting and making sure it fits in there in the room.” Marchenko says she finds this to be a great time to pick out a tree, as the family will be able to leave it up well into the New Year. “Frankly, this year we just chose the one that we love the most.” “It just puts us in this Christmas spirit,” says Marchenko’s daughter Veronica. Kenny Stuyt, owner of Fallowfield Tree Farm, says business is booming. Last weekend the snowy weather helped create record breaking sales, and this weekend hundreds more are expected. “We could probably see a big 400 to 500 trees go out. So, that’s how many families you get…2000 people, 2,500,” he explains. “It’s really nice to have people come out and enjoy the farm.” He says an average 6-foot tree at the farm costs $90 with tax. And like similar tree farms CTV News spoke with this season, the cost has risen slightly compared to last year due to inflation. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Mark Carney made a stop at the Stittsville farm to select his Christmas tree. Stuyt says Carney picked out and paid for an 8-foot Christmas tree, which he then requested be delivered to a local charity. It was the second stop of the day for the Prime Minister, who also visited a Nepean fire station to make a donation to CTV and Move 100’s Toy Mountain Campaign. Some like Mary Jane Macdonald and her sister Grace who were picking out their tree alongside their parents felt they were cutting it close with their tree selection. “Think maybe we’re a little bit a little bit too close,” Mary Jane Macdonald laughs. “Getting all the lights ready, that’s a big ordeal. But…it’ll definitely be up in time for Christmas. It might just be cutting it a little short.” For others, like Jenna Honsel, it’s the perfect time of the year. “We woke up this morning, it was just like a beautiful snowfall, and we were like ‘Yes we’re getting our tree!’”
