Christmas trees Info

Whilst the fruit trees at Copas Farms in Cookham are 'resting' their branches, Christmas Trees will be on sale in all their glory from Friday 3rd December

. As in previous years, the trees are supplied to us from the Ingram family of Greenfield Farm at appropriately named Christmas Common, just across the border in Oxfordshire. The Ingrams have been growing Christmas Trees for over thirty years and selling from their Tree Barn for over twenty five years. "We specifically selected The Tree Barn trees as we know them to be of superb, fresh quality", said Geoffrey Copas. Andrew Ingram explains that "Greenfield Farm provides the ideal site for Christmas tree farming, and not just because of its address! The trees like free-draining soil, they do not like soil with a high pH, and they don't like to be caught out by late frosts".

Buying and decorating your tree are important family traditions. A beautiful natural fir tree will instantly bring Christmas merriment into your home and form the focal point for celebrations. In recent years a wider choice of Christmas Trees has become available and this year at Copas Farms we will have a selection of varieties in all shapes and sizes. These will include - · Norway Spruce: The traditional Christmas Tree. If kept cool and well watered there is no reason why it shouldn't hold its needles as well as any other variety. Nordman Fir: Good strong straight branches, silvery underside to thick needles which have excellent needle holding qualities. The trees are priced by size and start at £3.00 per ft for the Norway Spruce to £5.30 per ft.for the Nordman Fir In addition to Christmas Trees we will also have a selection of Wreathes available.

So why has the decorated tree become such a traditional part of Christmas celebrations? Legend has it that way back in the 7th Century a monk from Crediton in Devon went to Germany to teach the Word of God and it is said that he used the triangular shape of the Fir Tree to describe the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The converted people began to revere the Fir Tree as God's Tree and by the 12th Century it was being hung, upside down, from ceilings at Christmastime in Central Europe as a symbol of Christianity. Early in the 16th Century in Germany Martin Luther, following a walk in a forest of evergreens, is said to have decorated a tree with candles to show his children how stars twinkled through the dark night. This started the custom for the decorated tree. The Christmas Tree first came to England with the Georgian Kings who came from Germany, but it was not until the popular Royals, Queen Victorian and Prince Albert, had a tree set up in Windsor Castle in 1841 did the custom start to spread into British homes. In Victorian times the tree would have been decorated with candles to represent start but this did present a fire risk and in 1895 Ralph Morris, an American telephonist, invented the electric Christmas lights similar to those we use today. Glass makers began making special small ornaments and, at first, it was a figure of the Baby Jesus that was put on top of the tree. Over time, this changed to an angel/fairy, depicting the angel who told the shepherds about Jesus, or a star like the Wiseman saw. After Queen Victoria died, the country went into mourning and the custom of the tree somehow died with her for a while in many homes. But in the 1930s there was a revival of Dickensian nostalgia, particularly in Britain, and the Christmas Tree made a big return, complete with bells, balls and tinsel and a beautiful golden-haired angel at the top. With the advent of war large trees were erected in public places to give moral to the people. These tree are still with us and in virtually all homes they are the centrepiece of our Christmas celebrations. Pop into Copas Farms, off Long Lane in Cookham, this Christmas and enjoy selecting your tree. The trees will be on sale - ·from Friday 3rd December 10 am to 5 pm daily till the 19th December OR until we sell out .. so dont leave it too late ……………………..