New SLO County family Christmas tree farm sells out in just 9 days. ‘My heart is totally full’
The George family was granted a Christmas miracle a little early this year.
Amy George and her family own and operate Salinas River Ranch, a Christmas tree farm that opened for the first time in Atascadero on Black Friday this year.
To George’s surprise, the family sold all of their pre-cut trees just nine days after opening, fulfilling a decades-old dream of her grandmother’s.
“It feels amazing,” George said in an interview with The Tribune. “Just to feel the community support showing up and and being interested in our story. My heart is totally full. “
For families looking to cut down their own trees, there are still plenty of live trees available on the farm, George said.
George’s grandparents, Phil and Marion Baron, bought the 45 acres of land 78 years ago. It was always her grandmother’s dream to have a Christmas tree farm, but life got in the way.
When George and her husband Cory bought the farm in 2015, they began planting thousands of trees.
After years of trial and error — including losing 2,000 of the 2,200 trees planted — the pair was ready to “throw in the towel and call it quits.” However, they eventually found that Monterey pines and Monterey cyprus do the best.
The family persisted and was able to open the farm officially this year with a soft opening and trial period last winter.
George said their goal was to sell all pre-cut trees by Dec. 15. Instead, the trees sold out after just nine days, markedly earlier than she first hoped.
“It makes me so happy in so many ways,” George said.
SLO County Christmas tree farm is a family affair
Running the farm has been a family affair.
In addition to cutting your own Christmas trees, visitors can still come out to the farm and enjoy the animals, take photos and buy one of the “big and beautiful” wreaths made by George’s daughter.
George’s daughter makes the wreath, her 11- and 13-year-old children run the snack shack and make and sell goodies like cupcakes and popcorn, her in-laws dress as Santa and Mrs. Claus and her youngest child, age 7, dresses as an elf and watches over the baby chicks, teaching other children to pick them up and hold them.
George meanwhile credits the business to her husband who has kept his full time job throughout the process.
“My husband is funding our dreams,” George said.
George said she never imagined the farm would be as successful as it has been. She said the family will bring in more pre-cut trees for next year and plans on doing more planting for trees four-to-five years down the line.
In the meantime, George encouraged people to “support local whenever possible.”
“It is sometimes hard to compete with the big guys, but we make up for it by bringing a personal touch to everything and being part of the community,” George said. “My favorite part of selling trees is just seeing everybody smiling and family time being spent. It’s a happy thing.”
More information
Salinas River Ranch is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and still has trees available to cut down.
For more information, call 805-801-1118, email Salinasriverranch@gmail.com or visit salinasriverranch.org/contact.
This story was originally published December 6, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
