Photos by Katie Morford

Shari and Lindsey Morford inspect the Delps’ selection of pre-cut trees offered in the main building. Behind them the open office door invites visitors in for peanuts and hot apple cider.

Christmas Trees in St. John: What we just celebrated

By Katie Morford

The Delp Christmas Tree Farm in rural St. John, run by Tony and Linda Delp, is a family-owned and operated business that employs area residents as summer and seasonal help and has provided Christmas trees, wreaths and other decorations for the past 40 years.

A warm fire in the hearth gives visitors to the Delp Christmas Tree Farm office a chance to thaw out.

Finding the perfect Christmas tree is a family affair as several Delp relatives ride the tractor-pulled hayrack out to the fields.

Finally, a beautiful tree is chosen and loaded onto the hayrack for its ride back to the office. This tree is a Canaan fir, one of several fir varieties sold by the Delps. They also sell Scotch, Eastern White and Southeastern White pines.

Bundles of greenery are carefully trimmed and wired onto round, metal frames to create fresh Christmas wreaths.

Worker Jim Smith dips the finished wreaths in a preserving solution and hangs them to dry in preparation for shipping them throughout the U.S.

Josh Hildebrand, a student at Kansas State University and a Delp Christmas Tree Farm employee, pulls a tree over to be shaken and netted. Hildebrand has worked for the Delps during the summer as well.

Josh Hildebrand ties a Christmas tree securely onto a car, ready for its journey to brighten a home for the holidays.