Yale SAF Christmas Tree Harvest and Sale

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. A time when young foresters, aided by friends, significant others, and curious onlookers, caravan north to Yale-Myers Forest to harvest trees, spruce boughs, mountain laurel, and winterberry. Every year, in early December, we take a break from the final weeks of classes to harvest Christmas trees and wreath-making materials at Yale-Myers and return to Yale with trucks overflowing with holiday cheer.

This year, we harvested the trees during the day on a Friday and gathered at Yale Farm that night to eat pizza, drink hot cider, and assemble wreathes by a roaring fire. For the past two weekends, we sold trees and wreathes to fellow students, faculty, and members of the New Haven community, raising funds for the Yale student chapter of the Society of American Foresters. These funds allow us to assist with student travel to conferences and support events at FES throughout the year. It’s a long-running tradition coordinated entirely by students and we’re lucky to have access to a site where we can plant, prune, and harvest our own Christmas trees, demonstrating sustainable practices and gaining hands-on experience. Plus the warm-fuzzy-holiday feelings. Those are good too.

Yale SAF Christmas Tree Harvest (Photo credit Chris Anderson)

This is by far one of my favorite traditions at F&ES, and one of the best things about being an MF and a member of SAF. During the last weeks of the semester, you can get caught up in a whirlwind of papers and exams, so the opportunity to get outside, spend time with your friends, and come home at the end of the day covered in spruce sap and smelling of wood smoke is one to be relished.