Meet Jamie and Laura Faircloth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie and Laura Faircloth.

Hi Jamie and Laura, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Jamie and I have been known to make impulsive decisions. We are committed to each other and strangely to our vehicles, but not much else. I haven’t gone to the same hair stylist or dentist more than twice since I was eighteen and living with my parents. Jamie and I have lived in eight different residences since we were married in 2004–nine if you count the hotel we were in for a month when our hot water heater busted and flooded our downtown apartment. Every house we’ve owned we call a garage sale house. This means we were driving around with no intentions of moving, saw a sign, and said the famous last words, “It couldn’t hurt to look.” We are typically pantsers (fly by the seat of our pants) and rarely planners. That’s how we knew this time was different. Our most recent move was thoughtful. It started with a commitment, and then purposely looked for 15-20 acres of land with visibility and good access to main roads, somewhere we could finally put down roots–both our family’s and actual tree roots.

Growing up I remember having a real tree at Christmas. I remember the fresh pine smell filling the house, the clink of my dad’s hammer on the metal stand, turning the tree in endless circles while we all voted on which was the best side to face out, getting sap on my hands when shoving the lights as deep in between the branches as my arms would allow. The Christmas memories that stand out over the others are the times we picked out our tree from the rows of perfectly conical evergreens at a nearby choose and cut farm in Indiana. This magical place was as much Christmas to me as the North Pole–all that was missing was Santa and his reindeer. Even then I knew I wanted a Christmas tree farm.

Jamie and I had talked about it before, but it was still just sharing dreams. All our moves over the years left a longing in our hearts for roots. The longing grew stronger with every move. That’s when we decided it was time to get serious about our dream. We looked at several different properties and none of them was just right. It was close to Christmas so we put our farm search on the back burner for the holidays. On our long drive home from North Carolina, we started looking at properties on our cell phones. We had purposely not been looking at Williamson County simply because we knew we couldn’t afford the amount of land we would need, but we were running out of options. I looked at Jamie while he was driving and said, “It couldn’t hurt to look.”

We entered our search criteria and there it was. It was in our price range, so of course, our first thought was, “What’s wrong with it?” The pictures showed cleared pasture land with gently rolling hills and a small creek, and then we saw the deal breaker. The property bordered Tennessee’s Interstate 840, the seventy-seven-mile partial loop around Nashville. This would deter most, but not a family looking to plant Christmas trees. We had wanted visibility from the road for free advertisement, and our time as urban dwellers in downtown Nashville prepared us for the road noise. It would be a familiar sound machine lulling us to sleep at night. The property was made for us. The exit off 840 is even named Pinewood Road. How perfect for a Christmas tree farm! We bought it. We sold our house, packed up the kids, and moved to the country.

2022 will be our 5th year open. In the previous 4 years, we have sold pre-cut trees harvested from other farms while waiting for our own trees to grow. We are proud to announce that this will be the first year customers can cut their own trees from our farm!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not always been a smooth road. When asked how the farm is going it’s our favorite joke to answer, “just killing trees.”

We planted our first crop of 500 trees in 2016. We planted them in the fall and we learned the hard way that October is usually hot and dry in our area. It didn’t rain for a month straight. We lost all 500 trees.

Not to be deterred we decided to try again in the spring. We planted them in pots in a nursery this time so we could water them every day. They thrived through summer and fall. Winter came with a few weeks straight of less than ten-degree temperatures and took out the trees. This time out of 500 about 5 survived. That counts as an improvement.

We added more field prep for our next round. Those survived and will be the ones customers can cut for the first time this year.

We made a choice from the beginning not to use chemicals on our trees and if we absolutely have to we would use organic options and as little as possible. This choice comes with more mowing than some farms may experience and the chance of losing trees in larger numbers than with mass spraying. However, other than the first 2 plantings we haven’t lost a significant number of trees. Since our son, Maddox, joined our mowing team the task is much more manageable.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Jamie is an artist with a day job as a Starbucks store manager. He is a gifted musician who plays many instruments but specializes in soprano saxophone. He has recorded albums available online, at Hobby Lobby, and at the Pinewood Christmas Tree Farm gift shop. He is also an effective manager who loves talking with people. Starbucks has opened the door for great relationships with employees and customers who have translated to farm customers as well.

Jamie says I am unique in that I’m very creative with an affinity for the arts and equally drawn to numbers and spreadsheets. Usually, people are one or the other. I have been in accounting for almost 20 years. I also love knitting and crafting. All the ornaments, crafts, knitted hats, scarves, and toys are handmade – mostly by me, family members help sometimes. Both sets of our parents help with crafts and are very involved with the farm. Our daughter Mia helps with crafts as well. In addition to trees, we also have blackberries all over the farm. Each summer we pick as many as we can and I make my signature seedless blackberry jam with them to sell in our gift shop. I tell people I’m famous for it. I sell out every year. Some customers come for the jam alone.

I also love to use my creativity in making wreaths and garlands. I add berries, magnolia, and different types of greenery as well as bows. I have a bit of a Christmas ribbon addiction. There are many options to choose from.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
With the recession in 2008, there were many large Christmas tree farms closed. Since trees take several years to grow big enough to cut we have just seen the result of that over the past few years, supply has been tight, especially with Fraser Fir. I believe we will start to come out of that over the next few years. We are also seeing more new farmers start their own farms recently. We are members of the TN Christmas Tree Growers Association (Jamie is the Vice President) and over the past year or two, we have had many new farms join. You may think this would be bad news for existing farms but Christmas tree farms, in our area anyway, are not competitive. We are very supportive of each other. There truly is enough demand for all of us to succeed.

Having said that we do try to differentiate by having excellent customer service also we are growing an Agritourism aspect of our farm. Currently, we offer sets for photographers to use for Christmas mini sessions. We offer hayrides, outdoor games, hot chocolate, and a campfire with s’mores available in our gift shop. We are looking for more fun Christmas-themed activities to add in the coming years.

I think because of everything happening in the country and world over the last few years people are looking for new traditions and ways to connect with family and friends, and they have certainly been looking for outdoor activities with room for social distancing. A Christmas tree farm can fill those needs. We want to offer a safe and happy place for our customers to make traditions and memories.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pinewoodchristmastreefarm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinewoodchristmastreefarm/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pinewoodchristmastrees/

Image Credits
Dani Jayden Photography