A few miles north...
If you were to keep driving up Route 3 about 20 miles past Pittsburgh, you'd find some of the most beautiful lakes in New Hampshire, where the Connecticut River rises before traveling all the way down New England. You'd find cabins, lodges and a few general stores... until you find nothing but trees, water and a handful of moose caution signs peppered along the way.
Should you be curious and drive a mile past Third Connecticut Lake, you'd arrive at the Canadian border, nestled at the top of the mountains where a single-lane crossing is open during business hours to vehicles... and snowmobiles.
Welcome to Chartierville, Québec, where our natural plantation of balsam fir thrives in bitter cold winters under endless skies.
What is a natural plantation?
In short, we let nature do her job. Instead of ordering and planting seedlings in rows, we use mother trees to reseed the land every year. A mother tree can propagate up to 5 acres, especially with our windy climate. The impressive matriarchs towering over the farm are between 30 and 40 years-old.
Like any other Christmas tree farm, balsam firs are not the only species finding our land hospitable. Every spring, we remove countless spruce, poplar and birch seedlings trying their luck! With careful shaping, fertilizers and selective herbicides, we can produce up to 3000 cut balsam firs annually -- ready to brighten the holiday seasons for families on both sides of the border.
It's more work but the natural ecosystem in place produces robust and dense trees with increased resilience to pests and weather.
The Balsam Fir
One of the hardiest evergreens, the balsam fir (Abies Balsamea) is native to a wide stretch of land stretching from northern New England to the edge of the boreal forest in northern Québec, thriving in the Appalachians down to Virginia and west to the northern woods of Minnesota.
It is by far the most fragrant of all species used as Christmas Trees, with all parts of the tree rich in resins and terpenes.
Native Americans have used it for its therapeutic properties for thousands of years, the fragrant needles and gum being used as teas, poultices and in steam decoctions for clearing airways. Its high vitamin C content was used as a remedy against scurvy by the first European explorers to Canada and its clear pitch was used as an adhesive in the production of optical components until petroleum-derived products were invented. It is full of antioxidants and a potent anti-inflammatory and antiseptic.