Fir heaven’s
sake—a
Noble shortage?
The Pacific Northwest
growers have not planted the
numbers of the 1980sPlus: Choosing a tree on Turkey Day
By Lori Tighe
Star-BulletinTree growers have acknowledged -- gasp -- the rumor: There may be a Christmas tree shortage this year.
"People are going Noble crazy," said Richard Tajiri, owner of Christmas Hawaii trees.
The Pacific Northwest has experienced a big shortage of Noble firs, Frazier firs and even Douglas firs, said Tajiri, who managed to get 5,000 to 6,000 trees from the Northwest this year.
Many growers in the 1980s who planted Noble firs, which take 12 years to mature, didn't replant them, he said.
"When they harvested them in recent years," he said, "all of a sudden there's no Nobles. People in places like California and Texas are scrambling."
But Tajiri said he didn't know how this would affect Hawaii. He plans to keep his prices the same as those of the last five years.
"We know the economy is bad. We keep cutting our profit margins down," he said.
"People in Hawaii can still get some pretty good prices, even better than some places on the West Coast."
John Schudel, owner of Holiday Tree Farms in Oregon, said customer demand for Noble firs has reduced the supply. "There's a shortage of good quality Noble firs on the market. A lot of growers have sold out.
"The demand is growing a little more each year," said Schudel, who shipped about 2,000 trees to Hawaii a few weeks ago.
"People like them, especially in Hawaii, because they last long and they have that Alpine look," he said.
Tajiri said the weather in the Northwest also has affected the trees.
"In August, September and October in Oregon and Washington, there was no rain, just sun. Then the first week of November got really cold.
"Then it went back to normal," Tajiri said.
"They think the trees went into stress. The Douglas firs were turning yellow. Many had to pull tags off and couldn't cut them."
But Jean Moore of Douglas Fir Co. in Shelton, Wash., said that the weather has not been especially cold and that her company has plenty of trees.
"Same as last year," Moore said.
The company's first boatload should arrive in Hawaii this weekend, she said.
The Noble fir remains the most popular tree because of its needle retention, she said. "And the needles go all around the branch."
It is also the most expensive, she said, nearly double the price of a Douglas fir, whose needles drop more frequently. But watering your tree, whether cheap or pricey, a gallon a day should make it last through Christmas, she said.
"The worst thing you can do to your tree," Moore warned, "is leave it outside in the sun and wind."
He said you should "cut the base of the tree a few inches and put it right away into water."
For some,
By Lori Tighe
Turkey Day is perfect
for picking a tree
Star-BulletinStephanie Javier was responsible for desert and salad on Thanksgiving Day, and her sister watched the chicken boil for her salad while Javier dashed in her van to buy the Christmas tree.
"Don't go in there, it's a madhouse," she warned a passerby, pointing to the Honolulu Kmart, where the trees were sold.
People who either hadn't tasted the first bite of turkey, or had just swallowed their last bite, flocked yesterday to buy their Christmas trees.
Javier, 30, breathed a sigh of relief as her husband, Marlon, 29, bagged their tree, zigzagged his way out of the crowds, and stuffed their Douglas fir into their van.
"We can have a nice Thanksgiving now, we have the true spirit," she said, laughing.
A new tradition maybe, but who was cooking the turkey?
"My aunt," Javier said.
Uttering "perfect, perfect; oooh, that's beautiful," mother, father and daughter Gonzalez picked out their tree together -- an annual tradition. But who was cooking their turkey?
"Oh, we ate him already," said Tony Gonzalez, the dad. It's also their tradition to eat their dinner on Thanksgiving eve.
"Our kids go to their in-laws on Thanksgiving," explained Hazel Gonzalez, the mom. "We go to a movie and out to dinner. We have the holiday to ourselves."
People began Thanksgiving seated in lawn chairs and in their cars at 6 a.m. in the Kmart parking lot, waiting for the store to open and begin selling trees.
"The employees had to fight their way into the store," said Austin Faletufuga, who wrapped trees. "I thought everyone would be at home eating turkey."
"I was shocked," said James Avanilla, who trimmed the bases of the trees. "I couldn't believe all the people."
This is the year Christmas jumped the gun on Thanksgiving, said Ryan Budisalich, Kmart general store manager. "We bumped the trees up a day earlier. It's a draw for the crowds. Christmas trees seem to sell earlier and earlier."
Clark Aramaki, whose sister was cooking the turkey, said buying their Christmas tree on Thanksgiving Day could be the beginning of a new family tradition. "We usually buy at the last minute. We put the ornaments up, then we take the ornaments down. But this year, the price was right."
Douglas firs were on sale for $24.95. After Thanksgiving, they were back to $29.95.
