Field Tour

Choose n'Cut Christmas Tree Production in the "Apple Hill" agritourism region.

Our 2022 CTRE conference field tour will take us approximately 1 hour east from Fallen Leaf Lake, over the Sierras and into the Sierra foothill region of El Dorado county-where apples, peaches, wine grapes and Christmas trees are grown for the agritourism market in Apple Hill.

On the way over, we will stop and discuss California wildfires with UCCE Forestry and Natural Resources Advisor Susie Kocher at the site of the 2021 Caldor fire along Highway 50, which burned over 220,000 acres.

Mike McGee with a stump cultured tree

Stops on the Field Tour Include:

McGee's Christmas Tree Farm Mike, Phyllis and Eli McGee will host us on

Stump culture

their 19 acre Choose n'Cut tree farm where stump culture is used. Stump culture is the practice of cutting a tree leaving the stump with whorls of lower branches to regenerate new sprouts that will grow into a harvestable tree. McGee's grows a wide selection of White, Noble, ‘Silver Tip’ (Red), Canaan, Nordmann and Turkish “true” fir (Abies sp.), and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga sp.), all using stump culture.

USFS Institute Firs has a collection of rare species and crosses.

The US Forest Service Institute of Forest Genetics to explore a true fir species block and the USFS nursery.

Rapetti Farms Randy Rapetti was one of the first El Dorado growers to try the Nordmann fir and he hasn't looked back! We'll discuss the unique challenges of growing Nordmann and Turkish fir in California, disease tolerance, and irrigation challenges.

Our tour day will include lunch and a wine tasting on the

The view from Lava Cap is even better with a glass of wine!

patio at Lava Cap winery.