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News

  • Caledonian Record: Nigel Manley Retires As Forest Society Christmas Tree Farmer

    April 13, 2022

    Through the decades, Manley established a thriving operation with some 32,000 Christmas trees in the fields, has greeted thousands of families making the annual tradition to The Rocks to cut their own trees, and has developed a robust set of education programs,.

    Read more
  • Long-time Christmas Tree Farmer, North Country Director Nigel Manley to Take on New Role with the Forest Society at The Rocks

    Jack Savage
    April 13, 2022

    Manley will continue to work part-time for the Forest Society on a variety of programs.

  • Caledonian Record: Bethlehem SPNHF Board Continues To Move Ahead In Plans For The Rocks Estate

    January 2, 2022

    The Forest Society's board has reaffirmed its commitment to renovations to the Carriage Barn at The Rocks beginning this spring.

    Read more

Volunteers Plant 4,000 Seedlings at The Rocks

Anna Berry
May 13, 2022
The Rocks
Volunteers plant Canaan fir seedlings by hand.
Volunteers plant seedlings by hand each spring at The Rocks.

Nearly 40 volunteers, including groups from two high schools, planted more than 4,000 Christmas tree seedlings this month at The Rocks in Bethlehem.

Volunteers work on planting the fields.The annual "planting party" means a frenzy of spring activity at the working farm, where small seedlings are hand planted in pre-drilled holes across the fields.

Volunteers were inspired by beautiful views of the Presidential Range of the White Mountains while they worked.

Students from The White Mountain School pose in the Christmas tree fields.
Students from The White Mountain School helped plant seedlings.
Students from The White Mountain School (below), a neighbor to The Rocks, spent the afternoon assisting the effort.

Most of the seedlings planted this year were Canaan fir seedlings, aged approximately 3 to 4 years, and will take approximately six to 10 years to grow into Christmas trees that can be harvested. Each of our more than 40,000 trees is then hand-pruned each summer for optimal shaping.

Two gardening gloved-hands help plant a seedling.
Most of the seedlings planted were Canaan fir trees.
The Rocks is a 1,400-acre forest reservation, owned and managed by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. 

In 1978, two of John and Frances Glessner's grandchildren donated the 1,400-acre Rocks, including 22 buildings, to the Forest Society, with the requirement that there always be a crop in the field. For more than three decades, that crop has been Christmas trees, and people come to The Rocks from near and far each year to find their perfect tree. Many other Christmas trees are delivered to wholesale clients, and others are collected and donated as part of the Trees for Troops charitable program.

Watch a video about planting day:

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Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
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