Joy of Christmas

A family run Christmas tree farm has been lauded for putting the green in its evergreens.

The Michigan Farm Bureau this week presented the Candy Cane Christmas Tree Farm its Proactive Leader in Ecology Management award. The farm in the Oakland County community of Oxford, about 30 miles north of Detroit, also has been certified by the Michigan Agricultural Environmental Assurance Program, which promotes pollution prevention programs.

Candy Cane’s owners say the outside recognition reflects their passion for all things that grow.

“We decided early on that we have to live in concert with the earth,” Cathy Genovese, who owns the farm with her husband, Frank, told the Detroit Free Press for a story Saturday. “We want to leave it a better place; to farm so that we do no harm.”

Among the farm’s eco-friendly practices:

• Workers plant each tree of the thousands on 18 acres by hand using an electric auger, rather than the large tractors used on most farms.

• The farm uses a drip-irrigation method that saves water and energy compared with overhead sprinkler systems.

• Planters intermingle, rather than concentrate species of trees, which helps limit the spread of diseases and pests.

• The farm was among the first to sell “pot in pot” live Christmas trees. Those are specially planted evergreens that can be transplanted outside after the holidays.

“The Genoveses have a good, green healthy relationship with the environment on all different levels,” Carrie Vollmer-Sanders, agricultural ecology specialist with the Farm Bureau, said.

The Genoveses, who have run the farm for 32 years, are master gardners and organic experts.

“It is a nice life,” Cathy Genovese said. “When you are on our farm and you take a deep breath, it’s just wonderful.”