The Aissen Tree Farm celebrates 35 years in business

Chris Rugowski

Contributor

December 2, 2024

PILSEN – The Aissen (pronounced eye-sen) Family has been in the tree farm business for the past 35 years.

As owners and operators of Aissen Tree Farm near Luxemburg, Tammy and Jeff Aissen have spent the last three-and-a-half decades sharing in the holiday traditions of thousands throughout the Northeast Wisconsin region as they visit the farm searching for their Christmas tree. 

As the couple reflects on the last 35 years, and the future of their children taking over, Tammy said she can’t help but reminisce about what got them to where they are today.

Becoming tree farmers

Tammy said the story starts when her grandfather, Claude Hess, purchased land in Wisconsin Rapids intending to plant Christmas trees.

Claude’s two sons – Donald (Tammy’s father) and Ken Hess – started Hess & Sons Tree Farm – selling 40,000 trees per year throughout the United States, including in Wisconsin, Texas, Florida, South Dakota, Illinois and Minnesota.

Shortly after, Tammy said she married Jeff – an Allouez native who she met when he got a job at Consolidated Paper in Wisconsin Rapids after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Armed with what Tammy and Jeff described as a “hardworking entrepreneurial spirit,” the couple said they moved back to Jeff’s stomping grounds – purchasing a 70-acre property in Pilsen, an unincorporated community in Kewaunee County.

Though today the property is home to 40,000 Christmas trees, a gift shop and several resident animals, Tammy said back in the late 1980s, it was an abandoned farm field that housed a dream.

“It was weeds and hay,” she said. “We had to buy a mower to help clear the land, and we rented a tractor to plant the first 4,000 trees, which we did near the back of the property, so most people didn’t even know what we were doing. It took us 20 years to conquer the project and get it to the point where we could plant anywhere we possibly could.”

During those 20 years, the Aissen family grew by two members – daughter Skyla and son Garrit, both of which, Tammy said – along with their significant others – have stepped up to take on key roles at the farm and position themselves to take over operations completely in the not-so-distant future.

Tammy said she likens the tree farm to a dairy farm, without the animals (except for their four dogs and two cats) – noting that there are always tasks to get done during certain times of the year.

And though there’s freedom in having the farm, she said the work never ends – with every day bringing a new adventure.

Just as she learned a strong work ethic from her dad and grandpa, Tammy said she and Jeff instilled it in their children at a young age.

“You can’t take ethics away from someone,” she said. “That’s a huge advantage of having a farm, the kids learn there’s not always a choice, some things you just have to get done.”

Involving the kids on the tree farm early on, Tammy said, has led to them learning the ropes and wanting to eventually take over operations – something Tammy and Jeff said not many others can say.

Jeff said he knows of only two other tree farms in his vast network with children who want to take over.

Describing the farm as a labor of love for the entire family, Skyla said they can’t go a day without talking.

“My mom is the heart of this,” she said. “She is the hardest working woman I’ve ever met in my life – I strive to be that. The only other woman that I know that works as hard as she does is my 87-year-old grandma, and she runs circles around us.”

Tammy said her parents, Don and Arlene, and her brother, Gary, are still selling Christmas trees in Wisconsin Rapids after 60 years, but have downscaled to a small retail lot harvesting off of their nine acres. 

Though she followed in her grandpa’s and dad’s footsteps, Tammy said they do things a bit differently at Aissen Tree Farm.

“We’re still a tree farm like my dad and grandpa – but we’ve got all the bells and whistles that go with it, like hot cocoa and cider and a gift store,” she said. “We didn’t have that (on my dad’s farm). Our jobs (there) were totally different from what we do here, and yet it’s still Christmas trees.”

For the first 11 years in business, Tammy said Aissen Tree Farm sold Christmas trees on a retail lot in Green Bay.

All operations were moved to the farm in 2000 – which she said allowed Aissen Tree Farm to add a gift shop and offer a choose-and-cut tree option, in addition to its pre-cut trees.

With the original 70 acres of Aissen Tree Farm maxed out, Tammy said Skyla and her husband, Nathan, purchased property across the street from the main farm and have planted some trees of their own.

“With Skyla and Nathan’s lot – they’ve got another 4,000 trees over there,” Jeff said. “Last year, we were able to stay open until Christmas.”

A year-round operation

Though the Christmas tree season itself only lasts from mid-November to Christmas Eve, the Aissen family said the rest of the year is spent preparing.

Planting, Tammy said, starts in April, which is followed by fertilizing in May.

The heavy work – shearing and trimming – she said, begins in June and takes about five to six weeks to complete.

“Shearing is a big summer job – it’s done during the hottest part of the summer when all the mosquitoes, flies, bees and other bugs are out,” she laughed. “It’s thankless work at the time. Everything is ready by August with minimal shearing needed after that.”

At the same time, Tammy said they are picking up pine cones for wreaths.

When all is said and done, she said they pick up around 25,000 cones – some of which are painted white – and integrate them into a number of products available at the farm.

Tammy said the Christmas tree market has changed over the years.

When she was a kid, she said the trees on her dad’s farm were Scotch pine and white pine.

These, she said, sold like hotcakes for years, but when people started wanting more “old-fashioned” trees, balsam fir and Fraser fir – or “short needle” trees, as they’re called – grew in popularity.

Though native to North Carolina and a bit finicky, Tammy said Fraser firs can grow in Wisconsin under the right conditions.

The Aissens said they have gotten it down to a science.

Regardless of the tree, Skyla said Aissen Tree Farm aims to provide an experience for visitors.

“We want you to feel like family here…,” she said. “The memories you make last forever and your relationships are more important and impactful.”

Gift shop, trees

Tammy said the 2,500-square-foot, heated gift shop at Aissen Tree Farm stocks about 7,000 ornaments each year – which they start ordering in January – among other holiday merchandise, including 2,400 wreaths of all sizes, about 500 Kissing Balls and garland of varying lengths.

Set up for the shop, she said, starts around Labor Day and takes about six weeks to complete.

Throughout the shop, Tammy said there are 57 trees with 57 different themes.

By the end of the season, she said there is very little inventory in the gift shop left – which provides the family with an opportunity to create completely new themes the next year.

Trees available each season – which are at least six-and-a-half feet tall and no more than nine-and-a-half feet tall – Tammy said, are individually measured, tagged, priced, color coordinated and named.

Naming the trees, she said, adds a fun element to the season for the Aissen family.

This year’s varieties and corresponding names include:

• Red (or Joe) – Fraser
• White (or Sarah) – balsam
• Blue (or Tom) – spruce
• Orange (or Ashlynn) – concolor
• Purple (or Wyatt) – colored

Tammy said the tree names and colored labels help keep things organized during the busy holiday season.

Every year, Jeff said it’s their goal to have visitors feel as though they are walking into their front yard, not through the weeds to pick their trees.

He said they work hard year-round to ensure the fields and rows of trees are kept trimmed and organized – which definitely helps when the farm welcomes large crowds.

For example, during their opening weekend – the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving – Jeff said they welcomed upward of 10,000 people to the farm, with cars lining the farm’s driveway and adjacent highway.

Though each season brings with it traditions for the Aissen family, Jeff said they find a lot of families have made it their own tradition to come back every year for their tree.

About two-thirds of the people who visit each year, he said, are repeat customers.

Skyla said Aissen Tree Farm provides authentic family fun during the holiday season.

“There’s no faking what we have,” she said.

Skyla said she thinks what keeps bringing people back to the farm is a mix of tradition, product, service and attitude.

Part of that, Tammy said, comes from making connections.

She said the entire Aissen family makes a point to stop what they’re doing and converse with people during their visit.

“We may only see them once a year, (and it’s a chance to catch up),” she said.

Next generation

Skyla said she has done a lot with the tree farm throughout the years, most recently focusing on marketing, helping make the Kissing Balls and tasks to help her mother out.

She said she is looking forward to taking on more responsibility in the coming year.

Skyla said she appreciates what her parents have taught her when it comes to being business-smart and savvy.

Though the plan is for her and Garrit to take over operations fully in the future, Skyla said she knows her parents will never completely be out of the picture.

Having faith that they will be able to carry on the legacy of what their parents started, Skyla said, is important – “because the rest will follow.”

“Faith is really big for me, too, and just letting God guide me and Garrit both into being able to take this tree farm over in a way that our parents would approve of,” she said. “We don’t want this to run into the ground, because they put so much heart and soul into this, and we’re so proud of this.”

Garrit – a recent college graduate – said he could have taken a job anywhere in the country, but not once did he think about not ending up back on the farm.

“I feel like this is a part of my life,” he said. “It’s not my job. It’s my backyard, in a way. It would hurt me more than Dad to see this decline.”

The Aissen Tree Farm – located at E1105 State Hwy 29 – is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Dec. 23.

Find more details at aissentreefarm.com.