Multi-generational tree farm kicks off holiday season

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

November 25, 2024

ELK MOUND – Though many don’t think about Christmas trees until the weather starts to get cold or the first snowflake falls, the Scharlau family thinks about Christmas trees 24/7/365.

That’s because for decades the Scharlaus have owned and operated Pleasant Valley Tree Farm N7240 810th St. in Elk Mound.

In the beginning…

The approximately 500-acre farm was started in 1893 by Farm Manager Sarah’s great-great-grandparents, who emigrated here from Germany. 

Originally a dairy and beef farm, Sarah said the elder Scharlaus also raised pigs for a while and had some cash crops. 

“They did a little of everything back then – whatever was working at the time,” she said, adding that the farm was handed down through the generations. “Along the way, my grandparents, Don and Kathy Scharlau, decided to start farming something new. They started planting Christmas trees in the 1970s and early 1980s.”

Initially, Sarah said they only planted a couple of acres of trees.

Each year, she said they planted more and more trees and today the farm has between 350-400 acres of trees.

In 1996, Sarah said the Pleasant Valley Tree Farm’s Country Store – a retail gift shop on the farm – opened.

“It’s a 2,500-to-3,000-square-foot store that goes hand-in-hand with the Christmas tree farm,” she said. “We sell mostly Christmas, USA-made products.”

Sarah said gift shop items include Nativity sets, Santas, snowmen, festive florals, “literally thousands” of ornaments, locally-made gourmet foods and a range of clothing.

At the shop, Sarah said free popcorn, hot chocolate and cider are available for patrons.

In 1997, Sarah said her father, Dan – the youngest of six siblings – took over the Christmas tree portion of the farm, having purchased it with his two brothers from their parents. 

She said her parents became the sole owners of the tree farm in 2018 – buying out her uncles’ ownership.

Sarah said she and her four siblings will soon become fifth-generation owners of the tree farm, as they plan to buy it from their parents in the future.

The planning, work never ends

Though the holiday season wraps up at the end of the year, Sarah said Christmas never stops for the Scharlau family.

By the end of January, they already start buying items for the gift shop, she said, because that’s when the Christmas gift shows are taking place. 

From the end of January to the beginning of February, Sarah said they’re already planning for the upcoming holiday season. 

“By the time we get to March, the guys are already prepping the fields and by April they’re planting,” she said. “By May and June, additional field prep is needed and pinecones need to be picked off the Fraser (fir) trees. We have about 100,000-150,000 Fraser trees – so that takes a couple of weeks to do that.”

Pleasant Valley Farm, she said, has about 350-400 acres of trees in rotation at all times.  

“It takes seven to 10 years for a tree to reach maturity, so we rotate acreage in and out annually,” she said. “Every year we plant approximately 20-40 acres of trees – somewhere between 30,000-40,000 trees a year.”

From that point, Sarah said, they enter the shearing season.

When that’s done, the Scharlau family spends a couple more weeks prepping the tree areas and farmyard, getting the gift shop set up and before they know it, it’s September and October – time for the annual Pumpkin Patch & Fall Festival, an event that Sarah said her family restarted in 2015. 

“Mid-October really kicks off our busiest time,” she said. “We start getting very busy cutting trees to fill our wholesale orders,” she said.

Over a 21-day period, Sarah said the crew will cut and process thousands of trees to be sold in 15 different states – mostly at other tree farms that can’t grow enough trees of their own, or Christmas tree lots.

“There’s been a real tree shortage in the last five years or so,” she said. “People are looking for trees left and right.”

By November, Sarah said the gift shop had been fully decorated for the Christmas season and everything is ready to go for their opening to the public in mid-November. 

“The real craziness starts when gun hunting season begins, usually the weekend before Thanksgiving,” she said. “It’s absolutely nuts that Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and it’s nonstop through the holidays.”

During the holiday season, Sarah said the family starts working as early as five or six in the morning and it’s not uncommon for them to still be working as late as eight or nine in the evening.

“But it’s fine – we enjoy it, and when you own your own business you do whatever you need to do to make it work,” she said. 

During the busy time, Sarah said not only does the extended Scharlau family – 10-15 cousins and four or five aunts and uncles – pitch in, but the farm brings on a handful of other employees as well to help with the workload.

Sarah said she, her parents and her four siblings work the farm year-round – with an additional 30-35 outside employees during the busy weekends during the holiday season to help everything run smoothly.

Finding that special tree 

Sarah said members of the public are able to take a wagon ride to Pleasant Valley’s Choose and Cut Christmas tree fields or select a fresh tree from their pre-cut lot – which were cut in the last 24-48 hours. 

For those who want to cut their own tree, she said the farm provides all the necessary tools free of charge.

Or, Sarah, said, tree farm customers can select the tree they want and someone will cut it for them, trim, shake and bale it, before helping load it onto their vehicle. 

Pleasant Valley has three varieties of trees to choose from: balsam fir, Fraser fir and white pine.

The balsam and Fraser trees, Sarah said, have shorter needles, while white pines have longer needles.

“Those are the three most popular trees for Christmas trees in the State of Wisconsin,” she said.

Sarah said Pleasant Valley also offers hundreds of handmade wreaths, swags and porch pots, plus fresh garland in various lengths. 

And at some point during the season, she said Santa and Mrs. Claus make an annual appearance.

People are encouraged to check the farm’s Facebook page for those dates and times. 

Otherwise, the farm is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Thinking about the future

As she looks toward the future and eventually taking over the farm with her siblings, Sarah, 26, said she can’t help but reflect on the past.

“Up until about three or four years ago, I never thought anything of the fact that we still own the same land that our ancestors, who first came here from Germany, owned and started farming on,” she said.

Sarah said as she gets older, she realizes more and more what “an incredible opportunity we have.”

“We are not only able to continue carrying on this tradition that my grandparents started with the Christmas tree farm, but with what my great-great-grandparents started with farming and preserving this land,” she said. “I don’t know many people who still own the same land that their ancestors started. So having this is incredible, and we feel very blessed to have it and to carry it on to the next generation, hopefully.” 

For more, visit pleasantvalleytree.com.