{"id":72454,"date":"2025-12-05T13:15:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T13:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/72454\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T13:15:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T13:15:07","slug":"florida-family-farm-cut-your-own-christmas-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/72454\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida family farm cut-your-own Christmas trees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>EUSTIS, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Picking out a Christmas tree isn\u2019t always easy \u2014 especially when you\u2019re walking across 17 acres of fresh, Florida-grown trees at Santa\u2019s Farm &amp; Christmas Tree Forest in Eustis.<\/p>\n<p>What You Need To Know<\/p>\n<p>A family-owned Eustis farm is drawing thousands with its rare Florida experience: choosing and cutting your own Christmas tree<\/p>\n<p>Shoppers like Ozem Rivera say they\u2019re making lasting memories while discovering it\u2019s possible to cut a tree in Florida<\/p>\n<p>Owners Jodi and Tom Utsman grow 17,000 trees a year and offer full-service help from cutting to wrapping, plus pre-cut Northern varieties<\/p>\n<p>Visitors can also explore <a href=\"https:\/\/www.santaschristmastreeforest.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Santa\u2019s Farm\u2019s<\/a> activities \u2014 including a petting zoo, crafts and holiday attractions \u2014 before taking home their tree<\/p>\n<p>Shoppers like Ozem Rivera and his daughter, Liani, were surprised to learn they could even cut their own tree there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFound a good one that we really like, so we\u2019re just trying to make sure that\u2019s the right one right now,\u201d Rivera said as the two searched for the perfect match.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s their first time cutting their own tree.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s our first time doing it. So, we had no idea it was even a possibility right here,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Farm owners Jodi and Tom Utsman have opened their farm to families for 35 years, offering two cut-your-own species \u2014 sand pine and southern red cedar.<\/p>\n<p>Jodi says that growing Christmas trees in Florida takes extra work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey grow much faster than the trees grow up north. So, you must trim them three times a year,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019re done chopping or should we say sawing down that tree, it\u2019s pretty much valet service after that.<\/p>\n<p>Santa\u2019s helpers handle the rest \u2014 picking up the freshly cut tree, tagging it, trimming the base, shaking off loose needles and wrapping it for the trip home.<\/p>\n<p>Shuttles even bring guests to the fields where 17,000 trees grow each year.<\/p>\n<p>But for those wanting a more traditional Northern tree, the Utsmans have an entire lot of imported varieties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is our tree lot,\u201d Jodi said. \u201cThe trees that can\u2019t be grown in Florida\u2026.Fraser fir, scotch, Douglas, blue spruce, and Black Hills spruce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And the farm is far more than just a place to pick a tree.<\/p>\n<p>From animals to crafts to kid-friendly attractions, there\u2019s plenty to experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a giant bounce pillow. We have a petting zoo, a concession area and a bar,\u201d Jodi said.<\/p>\n<p>As for Ozem and Liani, they got their Florida-grown tree decorated the same day.<\/p>\n<p>Jodi hopes every family leaves with the same feeling. \u201cI hope they walk away with an experience. This is just making memories\u2026 something that you don\u2019t forget,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.santaschristmastreeforest.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Santa\u2019s Farm &amp; Christmas Tree Forest<\/a> is open through Dec. 20.<\/p>\n<p>Admission is $10 (kids 2 and under free).<\/p>\n<p>Cut-your-own trees are $45, and pre-cut trees start at $90.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EUSTIS, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Picking out a Christmas tree isn\u2019t always easy \u2014 especially when you\u2019re walking across 17 acres&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7150,4092,274,1191,28,30,29,7151,1186,2174,115,139,11881,135,106,278,20871,835],"class_list":["post-72454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-app-florida-on-a-tankful","tag-app-things-to-do","tag-app-top-stories","tag-christmas","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-on-a-tankful","tag-holidays","tag-lake-county","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-randy-rauch","tag-tampa","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories","tag-trip-on-a-tankful","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}