Country Farms

Country Farms has multiple locations, so while it was the Everett market that drew me in, we shopped for our tree at the original site in Edmonds, which is apparently also a worm hole to the 1960s.

On the way to and from Providence Hospital in Everett, where my husband recently logged a ten-day stay, I passed a Christmas tree lot. Oftentimes, I drove by after dark, when the strings of globe lights shining over the lush green trees delighted my eyes and captured my imagination.

So when we decided last week to forgo the annual trip to a conventional Christmas tree farm out in the country and buy a city tree instead, those visions flashed before me and I knew the perfect place to go.

Country Farms.

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It's no wonder that I feel right at home here. 

Country Farms has been around since 1960 which makes it pretty much the same age as me.

For eight months of the year, this fresh-air fruit and vegetable emporium operates as a produce market. Buying direct from local and regional farmers, the market trucks in crops at the peak of freshness and sells them to city folks for fair prices. 

Every December, their down-home open air market converts to a tree lot that reminds me of the one Charlie Brown visits in his epic Christmas story. But unlike the over-commercialized collection of metal trees that sap his spirit, every tree at Country Farms is made of pure wood and fresh green needles, with all the best qualities of Charlie Brown's iconic spruce.

Tackling this tree-fetching adventure together, my fourth-born daughter and I quickly fell under the magic spell of this place. Forgetting that we were deep in the heart of the suburbs - along the heavily commercialized and often downright seedy Highway 99, for heaven's sake - we chatted with the friendly lumberjack-esque staff and strolled among the charmingly lit trees, evaluating their good looks and easily settling on our favorite. While my daughter paid the bill and oversaw the trunk-trimming and net-wrapping processes, I wandered back around the lot, listening to other families debating their choices, smiling at the kids running this way and that around the maze of paths. 

Those kids - minus the face masks - could have easily been my brothers and me. I felt like I'd traveled back in time. It's not often that I feel waves of genuine nostalgia at a place I've never been before, but Country Farms nailed it for me.

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As my daughter and I stood at our car, watching yet another bearded and plaid-wearing employee carefully tie our tree to the top of our car - with good old-fashioned twine, no less - we both agreed that Country Farms had wildly exceeded our expectations. 

And while we hope that our future Christmases will involve fewer hospital visits and more traipsing about in fields full of live trees, if need be, we now know we can still get that happy Christmas tree-shopping glow at Country Farms.