Washington tree farms › Schilter Family Farm

Schilter Family Farm

Olympia, Washington · Thurston County

Opens Nov 27

Opens November 27.

The Schilters have farmed the Nisqually Valley east of Olympia since 1940, and Christmas is the last act of a year that runs from blueberries through sunflowers to the biggest pumpkin patch in the South Sound. Choose-and-cut noble, Fraser, Nordmann, grand and Douglas fir, with pre-cut trees in the barn if you'd rather skip the saw.

Wagon rides run out to the fields on weekends, Santa turns up on the first Saturdays, and the cocoa cabanas and the lighted nativity inside the 140-year-old barn are what the kids will remember. There's no admission charge during the tree season. Dates are already up for this year: November 27 through December 13.

The facts

• Cut-your-own Noble firs and Fraser firs; pre-cut too
• Choose-and-cut runs November 27 through December 13 this year. No admission charge during the tree season.
• Also at the farm: wagon rides to the fields, Santa visits, cocoa cabanas, lighted nativity in the old barn, wreaths & garland
• Opening day: November 27

Checked Sep 5 against the farm's own site

What's open this weekend in Washington →

All Washington farms, by region →

Christmas tree disposal and recycling in Washington

The other end of the same trip: when the tree comes down in January, disposal and recycling are a city job and the rules change at the city line — here is who takes it in Seattle · Spokane — or Christmas tree disposal in every city we cover →

How do I dispose of a Christmas tree in Washington?

Not at the farm — getting rid of a tree is a city service, and the rules change at the city line. We read the tree collection page for 2 cities in Washington, linked just above: each one says whether the tree goes out for curbside pickup or to a drop-off site, and what has to come off it before it does.

Is there Christmas tree recycling in Washington?

Both cities we cover in Washington say on their own pages what becomes of a collected tree, and our pages quote that sentence. Where a city doesn't say, we don't say it either.

Who handles Christmas tree removal once the season is over?

The city, or the county authority that runs collection for it — that is the body every page in that January list is read from, and the only one that can tell you when it is running. Private haulers will take a tree away as well; they are not on this site, because we only write down what a city puts in writing itself.