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| The sign that drew me in! |
I had fully intended to walk in Woodsboro today, having driven through it on my way home last night, when I stopped the car and turned around -- I saw a tree farm sign! I just had to check it out.
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| Ladder |
Marshall Tree Farm, at 10001 Woodsboro Road in Woodsboro, MD, once again proved to me that all tree farms are not alike. This gorgeous, hilly, 50 acre property is not nearly as commercial an operation as the other farms I have visited. I drove in on a long lane, and soon I was driving by a historic old stone farmhouse, then a vineyard, and at the top of yet another hill covered by some of the prettiest, most "perfect" trees I have seen yet, I found the Marshalls, basically at the end of their driveway.
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| View from the top |
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| Pondside beauties |
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| Old fencepost |
I asked them if I could walk the property, and handed them one of my "Daily Photo Walk" cards. Mr. Marshall and his (I suspect) grandson were ever so helpful in telling me where I could go to get the best workout. So I turned the car around, and drove back down the hill to the pond I had passed coming in. I parked, and first I walked all around the pond and along the road I drove in on. Then I walked back up the hill, past the stone house, past the grapevines, and into the tree cutting area.
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| Towering oaks |
This area basically had a couple of saws. There was no barn with wreaths and garland roping, no netting machines, no tree stands or ornaments for sale. They don't even have a web site. They just have beautiful trees that you cut and tie with rope to the top of your SUV. I asked Mr. Marshall how long they had been selling trees, and he said for about 20 years. I told him they were some of the prettiest ones I had seen yet, and he said that generally, once people have been there, they come back again the next year. Word of mouth is always good advertising.
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| Old growth trees |
Mr. Marshall told me that I should go on past the house they lived in (not the stone farmhouse) and walk through the old growth area, where the uncut trees from years past have gotten full and tall and somewhat unruly. He said it is his "little piece of heaven." So, I took his advice and walked down the oak leaf covered lane and out into a meadowlike area edged by pines. Natural areas of hardwoods, rocky hillsides, and old growth trees beckoned me. I chose to walk along any lanes I could find, which took me all over the place, up hills and down. I got quite the workout!
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| Historic Stone Farmhouse |
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| Country lane |
I am so glad that I have chosen tree farms to walk the past few weeks. There is no other way I could have gotten easy access to some of the prettiest farmland in Frederick County, and I surely have met some wonderful people. Thank you, Marshall Family, for a great walk today.
Hurricane Sandy Relief: Donate to the Red Cross, and I will mail you a 5 x 7 print from any of the photos I have posted on my blog OR any photo on my website.
Forward to me via email a receipt for donating to the Red Cross. Tell me whether the photo is from the blog or the website, and Include its title along with a mailing address. The name on the receipt to the Red Cross must match the name of the mailing recipient. Send the receipt and the photo request to camscamerashots@gmail.com.
Click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Cam's rules for the Daily Photo Walk:
- walk every day
- the walk must be in addition to any other planned activity for the day
- post a photo every day
- use my Nikon P7100 (it is a very convenient size and weight)
- no weather excuses
- walk only where it is safe to do so
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