Popular Christmas Tree Farms In Erie County, New York

You are running out of weekends to get your real Christmas tree, but the good news is, there are plenty of places to get them here in Western New York.

There's something special about picking out your own Christmas tree

We grew up in a house where there was a fresh cut real Christmas tree when I was a kid. It was a tradition for our family of 6, and now that I have my own family, it's a tradition that we still uphold. Even though my kids have grown up and are now in college, they still find the time to come home, even if it's just for a couple of hours, to pick out a tree for Christmas.

Aside from Jesus and Santa Claus, there is not an icon that is more closely associated with Christmas. It is visually one of the biggest symbols out there, and picking one to gather around to share love and memories is very symbolic of the season.

Are you a U-Cut or a pre-cut kind of person?

When you go to these farms, there are normally options to go out in the field and cut them yourself or to choose from the ones that they have pre-cut for you. When we were kids, we did both. Some years, we'd march through the snow to find the perfect tree, and then we would have to drag it back out of the woods like the Griswolds in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." Other years, we would just choose from what they had.

When you support these farms, you're supporting local

We talk about it a lot on our radio stations. We believe in supporting local. These are the people that you see at church and at the grocery stores. When you shop and support these people, that money stays in our community. So if  you can this year, choose a local farm.

Erie County released a map of them so that you can find them easily this year.

The list of farms that they've included are: