Mattituck’s Shamrock Christmas Tree Farm shuttered for holiday season due to shortage
The farm brings people from all over to not just pick out a Christmas tree, but to enjoy a train ride through the farms, food, and so much more. Joe Shipman says he hopes people can understand why they had to make the decision.
Top Stories
For the first time in 28 years, the Shamrock Christmas Tree Farm in Mattituck will not open this holiday season.
Farm owner Joe Shipman says there’s been high demand for the Fraser Fir tree this Christmas season. The demand is so high that it’s causing shortages nationwide, including at the farm in Mattituck.
"This is a real let down for us," said Shipman. “There seems to be a shortage of Fraser, and that's what we were supposed to be getting for this coming season. We only found out yesterday that our trees were not coming this year."
Shipman says the difficult decision was really heartbreaking, but says he wants to make sure he can have enough trees to meet the demand.
"I have a whole year to find a supplier that can supply us with at least three tractor- trailer loads of trees,” said Shipman. “That's what we normally go through plus we go through everything in the field, which is maybe another 2,000 trees."
The farm brings people from all over to not just pick out a Christmas tree, but to enjoy a train ride through the farms, food, and so much more. Shipman says he hopes people can understand why they had to make the decision.
"It's been kind of a tradition for a long time. Are the people going to come back? I think the people will come back. I think they'll be receptive to the problem that we're having and I'll be looking forward to seeing all those people next year,” he said.
While he looks for a new supplier, he has a message for the routine customers he and his family see every year.
"Have a Merry Christmas,” he said.
Shipman says the lapse in trees this year helps them stock up not just for next year, but for the next seven years.
