Mr. Tremblay’s green forest

(Saint-Évariste-de-Forsyth) This is not a Christmas story; it’s better. It’s a true story. That of hard work. That of Roger Tremblay and a forest. Its forest.

Every spring, for three years, he has been pouring poultry manure with a teaspoon at the foot of each of his young fir trees. Its artisanal cultivation includes nearly 6,000 conifers.

At the end of November, he received something better than a gift from Santa: his official organic certification. He thus became the second producer in Quebec to achieve the feat, after Daniel Laflèche of Sapin Bio Québec.

Its six-hectare fir forest is located in Saint-Évariste-de-Forsyth, in Beauce.

As soon as we arrive, Mr. Tremblay warns that we will have to drive on a bumpy road and be well shod to walk there. It is better to go there before the first snowfall, he says. Its forest has one kilometer of paths which are not worked mechanically, you have to step over wild grasses to discover in turn what the producer calls his “baby fir trees”, his “adolescents” or his “star fir trees”. . »

All around us stand majestic balsam firs, with their characteristic smell of resin, as well as a related species, Canaan firs. In Quebec, four varieties of Christmas trees are mainly grown: the balsam fir, the Cook, the Canaan and the Fraser, native to Tennessee, in the United States.

But in Roger Tremblay’s forest, there are no phytosanitary treatments (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides), no chemical fertilizers, no pesticides, no growth hormones.

With a skillful hand, the producer packs the sharp grass to release the top of a young shoot barely a foot and a half tall. It is jade green. He explains that the young fir trees are carefully pruned by hand using shears, like a bonsai, in the hope of giving them a beautiful conical shape.

Organic Christmas trees are like imperfect vegetables, he explains. No two are the same size, shape or green hue.

“This one, for example, is one of my star trees. I planted it in 2021, its color and shape are almost perfect. »

“Here, maintaining my forest, I am happier than a child at Disney,” adds Mr. Tremblay, leading the photographer from The Press through its conifers.

In the extremes

Roger Tremblay’s colossal project, that of founding the organic brand SapinsdeSens, began three years ago. Professor of socio-ecological governance at the University of Sherbrooke, he fulfilled a dream of returning to the land.

But his project almost collapsed several times.

In 2022, its forest had 3,000 fir trees, planted one by one. The young shoots pointed towards the sky. Then there was winter, with its rains, squalls and ice typical of climate change.

When spring came, the producer discovered to his horror 1000 conifers in decay, with broken branches.

“Normally, a producer expects an annual loss rate of 5%. But there, I found myself with 30 to 40% of my new production broken. »

It was a little earlier that he had the idea of ​​creating a family of fir tree planters. Volunteers who join his project receive a tree for 10 years. They too are faced with the organic challenge. In the spring of 2023, a laboratory test revealed the probable presence of a fungus. His land threatened to be contaminated for 10 years. He was forced to cancel the planting of 1,500 plants. At the last minute, Mr. Tremblay found 500 young shoots to plant.

A tradition

Josée Paquet, her partner, and their son Émile were one of the first families of volunteer planters. They left the hustle and bustle of Montreal to settle in La Guadeloupe, a neighboring municipality of Saint-Évariste-de-Forsyth.

In interview, M^me Paquet explains that they used to put up an artificial tree when they lived in town. After moving, they had the idea of ​​going to pick their tree, a bit like picking apples in the fall.

“We had been toying with the idea for a long time. Some might criticize us, telling us that we are participating in deforestation. But we are replanting. We give back what we cut,” she insists.

“The first year, we planted around 200 baby fir trees,” says M.^me Pack. It has become a tradition. And when the time comes to take down the tree, we collect the branches and thorns to transform them into cleaning products. »

“For pleasure”

Roger Tremblay invite The Press to go deeper into his forest. We cross a ditch. There are five feet of distance between each tree, six feet between the rows.

He explains that he does light clearing in the spring to control weeds. Manually, he sprays black soap to prevent aphids.

Mr. Tremblay devotes the equivalent of three months of work per year to his forest. A solo rider, he toured organic fir crops in France. There, around twenty producers have formed an organic softwood growing association, he emphasizes.

Mr. Tremblay walks up to a waist-high tree. The specimen has “a beautiful crown of five branches, a beautiful color,” he explains to us. He plans to prune it soon. A little further, another good candidate. It will be cut in three, four years.

Producing a tree costs him more or less $15, another $4 to sell it at the market, he explains. For now, U-pick is by invitation only.

The man wants to keep his artisanal production, “for pleasure”.

“When I cut down this tree, it will give me a little pang in my heart. But, I’m going to plant a baby, here, right next to it, he explains, digging his index finger into the earth. I work in the spirit of nature, I derive pride and satisfaction from it. »

“People no longer want to cut down fir trees, but you have to see it as agriculture, like when you buy a pumpkin. We constantly participate in reforestation and regeneration. »

Learn more about non-food organic certification