UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — At one time, Christmas Eve was the most popular day to buy and decorate a Christmas tree. The evergreen would stay up through the holiday season and into the winter, offering a symbol of life during the darkest months.
For Penn State Extension Horticulture Educator Kelly Piccioni, Christmas trees are a family legacy. Her roots in the Christmas tree business stretch back four generations, starting with her great-grandfather, who bought trees off the railroad and resold them. Her grandparents grew trees in Schuylkill County and sold them from their backyard on Centre Avenue in Reading, Berks County.
“On Christmas Eve, we’d have dinner and get ready for church, but the doorbell was always ringing, and we were running out back to help customers,” she said. “All the cousins would argue over who got to work the register — it was a big event.”
Her father, one of five siblings, continued the tradition by growing his own trees on land in Leesport and Bernville. He expanded into producing other nursery stock, including shade trees, flowering trees and shrubs.
“Growing up, we did every job on the farm,” Piccioni said. “There’s even a special ‘Christmas tree waddle’ we learned as kids for planting seedlings.”
Today, her father runs a full operation with wholesale, cut-your-own and pre-cut sales. Piccioni and her sisters — and now their children — help out on weekends.
Piccioni joined Extension in January as a horticulture educator in the Schuylkill County office. She provides educational resources and support to commercial producers of Christmas trees, cut flowers and other horticultural crops in the region. Her role is especially significant given that Pennsylvania ranks third in the nation for Christmas tree production.
A Berks County native and graduate of Delaware Valley University, Piccioni has embraced the opportunity to work closely with growers.
“I’ve hardly been in the office,” she said. “I’ve been out as much as possible, which has been so fun. You see the challenges people face, their strengths and the progress on their farms.”
Unusual weather this year has presented challenges for producers, she noted, with drought conditions and a cold winter. Through on-farm visits, consultations and diagnostics, Piccioni helps growers address problems early in the growing season. She sends plant samples to Penn State’s Plant Disease Clinic to help producers get answers and formulate management plans.
“Christmas tree growers are some of the best people,” she said. “That’s always drawn me to the green industry and ag world. I get to geek out every day as they let me walk around their farms.”