By Jennifer Stultz
Tri-County Tribune Editor
jstultz@cherryroad.com
It’s more than a Christmas tree, it’s an experience to remember. That is the motivation behind four generations of Delp family Christmas tree farmers near St. John, and that is what keeps customers coming back each year for a special Christmas tree.
“We’ve been coming here for the past three years to get our Christmas tree, ever since we moved to the area,” said Gabriel Fowler, who along with his wife, Chelsie, and son, Jonathon, braved a bit of a chill wind earlier this week to pick out a holiday centerpiece for their home near Turon.
“It’s a fun tradition. We like deciding on the perfect tree together,” said Chelsie Fowler.
It takes time to build traditions, and create perfect trees, according to Tony Delp, daily caretaker at the Christmas tree farm.
“My dad [Cecil Delp] started this place in 1959,” Delp said. “There wasn’t anyone else growing Christmas trees around here then, it was kind of a new thing.”
Delp worked closely with his dad, planting trees, watering, and battling the elements. Though he left the farm for several years and got a degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University, when he and his wife had a son, they decided to move home and raise him in the small, farming community of St. John. Tree farming has, and continues too, kept the family busy. He has been part of the business for more than 40 years.
Currently, Tony’s son, Joel and his family operated the family Christmas tree farm, but he keeps watch on the office and visitors center daily while others have off-farm jobs and school. Seasonal employees Brett Fairchild and Timothy Spare are also on hand during the busy seasons to cut trees, flock trees, shake trees, and help customers however needed.
“Our busiest two weeks are right after Thanksgiving for our Open House and then the first week of December,” Delp said. “But we continue to have folks stopping in every day as the days get closer to Christmas. It just depends on their own traditions as to when people will come out and get their trees.”
Delp said the family cut back in the past decade or so, due to economic and labor considerations. They currently operate 30 acres of Christmas trees and 10 acres of fruit trees, having added peaches and apples into the tree farm mix in the past few years.
“They have different seasons so now it is a more year-round operation,” Delp said. “We picked more than 9,000 pounds of fruit this year; that’s pretty labor intensive.”
It takes a lot of labor and time to grow Christmas trees as well. Delp said a 6-7 ft. tree needs to grow for seven to nine years to reach maturity. During that time, each tree on the farm is shaped and trimmed each year, especially during times of early formation.
“It’s hard work, and there is a lot more to it than meets the eye,” Delp said. “There used to be 130 growers in our state but now there is only about 30.”
Delp is part of a grower’s association which meets twice yearly to help network and provide information needed to better Kansas Christmas tree crops. The farm is also a Registered Agritourism Business in Kansas.
Customers come from near and far to get their trees at the Delp farm each year.
“By far, most of them are from out-of-county,” Delp said. “We had someone from Oklahoma here visiting family and they took a tree home with them yesterday. Hugoton, Pratt, Great Bend, Hutch, Dodge City – had a lot of people from those places here already this year.”
Those who still need a tree can stop by the Delp farm to enjoy eating peanuts and drinking apple cider around a wood stove in the indoor store where cut trees and wreaths are displayed. Or they can load up and take a saw out to explore acres and rows of various-sized trees to pick their own from at least five or six different varieties. It’s all part of the experience. There are Fraser Firs, Concolor White Firs, along with Scotch Pines and other varieties to choose from.
The Delp Christmas Tree Farm at 2 NE 30th St., St. John, in Stafford County, is open 7 days a week from now until Christmas from 1-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 1-6 p.m. on Sunday.
Apple cider, apple jelly, and homegrown apples are also for sale at this time.
