October update:’Tis the season for PREP WORK

Oct 2

Oh hi! Just wanted to share a few exciting updates and let everyone know the latest –because there is quite a bit going on over here at Treetop Acres HQ.

We can hardly believe its October - and we are fully embracing spooky season while constantly reminding ourselves that Thanksgiving is now just 57 days away, which means the farm officially opens in 58 days.

We’re at the point where both Pat and I have woken up in the middle of the night with tree farm stuff on our mind. But to be honest, we kind of love it.

Getting down to business

We still haven’t closed yet, but we’re getting very close. The lawyers are finishing up some title searches and with any luck we’ll have our date scheduled by the end of this week… in the meantime, it’s a bit anxiety inducing to be making so many plans for a farm we don’t officially own yet — but we’re making the best of it and moving forward with everything we can. It’s comforting knowing we have an amazing team of agents, lawyers, and lenders working on everything. We don’t anticipate there being any issues but will still feel a whole lot better when the deal is totally done.

Speaking of lenders, we are beyond thrilled and and so incredibly thankful to be able to share that we have now reached our investment goal and raised all of the capital we need to be able to purchase, operate, and grow the farm — without needing to dip into our personal retirement savings or investments. We couldn’t be more grateful to these investors. With their votes of confidence, we are even more excited and energized.

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve set up our LLC, Treetop Acres of WNY, opened our business bank account, and received our certificate of authority to collect New York State sales tax (woohoo!)

We’ve also gotten squared away with Square, so the farm can begin accepting digital payments and credit cards (maybe this is where a “woohoo is more warranted?) and are now in the process of some other not-super-sexy things, like obtaining our insurance policy.

All of these types of things have been made easier by becoming official members of the Western New York Christmas Tree Farmer’s Association and the Real Christmas Tree Board. Both organizations and their members have been incredibly helpful already and we’re proud to be a part of them,

Enhancing the experience

On the slightly more fun side, we launched a giveaway contest for anyone who signs up for our email newsletter before Thanksgiving, and will be sending out our very first newsletter in just a few short days! If you’re not already on the nice list, you can sign up here.

We are beyond pumped to announce that we will be partnering with Buffalo’s own Nineteen Coffee this season.

We can’t wait to see their adorable coffee trailer decorated for Christmas! They’ll be keeping farm visitors and tree hunters warm and happy with delicious coffees, espresso drinks, cocoas, cider, juices, and all kinds of amazing cookies and pastries. Follow @nineteen_coffee on Instagram for a taste of what they’ll be serving — they’ll also be posting more details as we get closer.

Not only is it great to be able to offer our customers a pick me up (and something hot, in case it’s cold) – we absolutely love that we’re working with another local, relatively new small business that’s hustling hard and doing great work.

Nineteen’s owner, Erin Young, and I are having a great time coming up with a great menu – and you can bet on some fun names for the seasonal drinks.

Pat had the awesome idea of offering super affordable kid-sized drinks and we’re thinking of calling that size “My kid will probably drink 2 sips before losing interest” (or something along those lines).

Photo op options

We’re working on finalizing some really great photo op options on the tree farm as well.

We’ll have setups for capturing memories and great pics with your phones and personal cameras of course, and for anyone looking for that perfect professionally done Christmas card pic – we’ll be offering a limited number of pet-friendly family mini-sessions on Friday, November 29th (our opening day) — to ensure you get your pics in plenty of time to send out cards.

Sign ups for that will be coming very soon!

Putting a bow on it

Last but not least, we’re gearing up to offer wreaths. And I do mean “gearing up” literally, as the farm has never offered them before - so we’re starting from scratch when it comes to equipment and learning the craft. We’ve been meeting with Karen Conklin, an expert wreath maker at Windy Meadows Tree Farm, and have already learned a ton. We’ve also just ordered ourselves a wreath making machine, wreath frames, and a couple of Bowdabras, these great little tools that make it easier to craft big beautiful bows.

We want the wreaths to stay beautiful and last throughout the holidays, so we really can’t begin collecting the boughs and greens to make them until the week of Thanksgiving. So for now, we’ll be collecting pinecones, making bows, studying up, and trying to come up with some fun wreath themes. We’re thinking we should do at least a few Bills wreaths and maybe some chicken wing wreaths?

My goal is to make 100 wreaths for the first weekend but we’ll have to see how it goes once we get into it. Some wreaths are better than no wreaths, right?

That’s a wrap

On a more personal note, Pat and I will be taking a slight break to do a 4-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon next week, and then we’ll be right back at it - so stay tuned for more updates (and that newsletter) soon!

Thanks for following along!