Christmas is coming, you may already be thinking about gifts, but do you have your tree? In France, at Christmas, we consume around 6 million fir trees, including 1 million in plastic. In Côte-Saint-André, we met Patrice Baule, one of only two producers of Isère fir trees. Patrice has been producing fir trees for 40 years and works all year round in his ten kilometers of nurseries to produce some 3,000 trees.
In his courtyard, the fir trees stand at attention, lined up in rows, completely bare, without their garlands. “I mainly produce Nordmann fir, the kind that doesn’t lose its leaves, and a little spruce”explains Patrice. A third of its production will be sold to individuals, the rest will go to nurseries.
A two meter fir tree takes 8 years to grow
As for sizes, there is everything: the smallest are 80 cm, but for a two-meter tree, you have to wait eight years. “There are also the big ones, between 6 and 9 meters, which we sell to the municipalities.[…] This year the season was very good for us with a lot of rain.”
Patrice Baule produces fewer and fewer potted trees, around 200. He mainly sells cut fir trees : “In a pot, they are a little more expensive, but for cut ones, it ranges from 25 euros for a 1.50 m tree to 70 euros for a three meter tree.” Sales start on December 1st directly at Patrice's: first come, first served.
France
