To Our Valued Customers and Friends:

We are at last going to be open this year. Thank you all for your patience while our field replenished itself. It was a correct decision to wait an additional year to reopen rather than opening last year. It made a big difference in the amount and quality of trees available. Our job now is to “keep the ball rolling” as they say.

SPRING FLOODS TAKE COLE ROAD BRIDGE OUT – ALTERNATE DIRECTIONS!!!

For customers coming from the Seacoast on Routes 101 and 107 and from Manchester on Routes 101 and 43, please follow the alternate directions below.

Go past the Cole Road cut off and stay on 107/43 north for approximately 1¼ miles further. You will go past the post office and the old school. At the top of the hill, Route 107 makes a sharp right turn at Cornerstone Place. Take a hard left turn here onto Candia Road. After one mile, take a right onto Ridge Road (You can see the bridge that was washed out in the spring flood directly ahead). Ridge’s End is 1¼ miles on the right.

While we love you to visit our town, we do not want you to spend the day involuntarily touring Deerfield. In case you get lost, we will have a cell phone at the farm, but the reception is marginal (Yea Verizon – I can’t hear you now). The number is 603-770-4870.

GLAD TO BE BACK - HOW WE WILL DO BUSINESS!!!

We started our farm with the intent of being a tag-and-cut only operation. As you know, things got out of hand when we opened to the general public. We have decided that we will return to a tag-and-cut only operation. In this manner, the tags placed by customers should be very secure. The people that expend the energy to make two trips for their tree and have chosen their tree as a family, are much more respectful of the tags of others. We therefore will not reopen to the general public and a tree must be tagged in order to be cut.

In order to ensure that there will be trees every year and so that we will not have to close in the future, the following controls will be put into place.

• In the summer of the year. We will estimate how many trees are ready for market and limit sales to about 2/3 of that amount.
• Tagging will take place on Saturdays and Sundays in November prior to Thanksgiving from 9 am until approximately 4:30 pm or dark.
• The amount of available tags will be posted on our website weekly.
• The web site will be changed after every tagging weekend indicating the number of trees still available for tagging on the following weekend. When the number reaches zero, we will be closed for further tagging for that year. We will however stay open the entire weekend that we reach our tagging limit so that nobody makes an unwarranted trip. As an example, suppose we list that 125 trees are available for tagging the following weekend, we will remain open for that tagging weekend even if that number is exceeded.
• The customer must produce their tag stub at time of payment which will be matched to the tag on the tree. If a customer loses their tag stub, they will have to show an ID at the office in order to obtain a replacement stub and should do so prior to cutting their tree.
• Cutting will take place on the day after Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving weekend, and the following two weekends from 9 am to approximately 4:30 pm or dark.

We will still offer our complementary beverages and cookies, free netting, sharp saws, locator maps and a simplified process; however our prices will be going to $45 for our large trees and $40 for our small trees.

IS THERE A RAIN DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE??? - RIDGE’S END FIGHTS BACK!!!

The weather has not been kind again this past year. Heavy rains in the spring were good for the transplants; however the drought that followed with 100 degree weather and the fall drought took a toll on the new transplants. The loss would have been much larger, but we have built a water tank with a portable DC pump system that fits in the back of our truck. We resorted to hand watering the small trees with this system and it made a difference. We would have liked to have had it running a bit earlier though. I am thinking of putting a generator and AC pump in for next year. I have got to think it through a little bit more.

We did plant the two additional sections on the lower side of our home last spring. These two sections will add about 1,000 trees to our stock. We have earmarked another section to plant about another 500 trees next spring. I am also looking at putting another block of trees in the front of the house the year after that. No decision there yet as I am getting bad stares from the Mrs. on that idea. Will keep you posted.

MILITARY AND FAMILY UPDATE – GOOD NEWS AND NOT GOOD NEWS!!!

Daughter Kathryn doing well with the INS and is due for advancement early next year. Maybe at that point she will become self sufficient! We hope so.

Daughter Kimberly bought a small house in Washington, NH just before the end of the year. Now she knows where and just how far money does go!

Daughter Kristen received her Bachelor’s degree in Geology. She and David have bought a condo in Penacook, NH and she is working for an environmental firm in Manchester.

The good news is that Staff Sergeant Melendez, David is US Army – retired with over 10 years of service to our great country and that the romance is again on the front burner ( I need a dang score card for this drama!!!). The alternate news is that shortly after David returned from home from his second tour in Iraq in September 2006, he started having frequent grand mal seizures possibly due to the anthrax vaccine that the troops are required to take. The research I have done indicates that this problem is known and quite more common than publicized. As a result, David is considered fully disabled by the Army and was unable to take the police force position he was offered in New York. This really changed everyone’s plans. At 27 years old, it is quite an obstacle, and is another unknown price our military pays to protect our way of life. Medication is working to defer his seizures to some extent, so there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. We hope so! In the meantime, being the trooper he is, he is attending classes working on a BS degree in computer science.

EVERY DAY IS VETERAN’S DAY!!! – RIDGES END PROUDLY SALUTES EACH OF YOU!!!

Our military people are great. They are so patriotic and are some of our country’s best resources. We all could learn something from them in terms of building our character. These people make tremendous personal, financial, and emotional sacrifices while the majority of us are absorbed in our own importance. Please remember, “Every Day is Veteran’s Day”. As you make your contribution decisions this year, remember how good we have it even when times are tough thanks to our troops, and please consider your support of the USO, the DAV or the host of other organizations that support our military. These organizations and our troops need and deserve our support!

I hope that I do not bore you with the pro-troop position we put forth. One has to be touched by what the military does to fully appreciate their sacrifices. We have and we do!

HAPPY HOLIDAY’S FROM THE CANNATAS!!!

We have expanded our “flicks” section. Some are military, but there is something there for all tastes. The secret is to look at each photo and try to capture the moment that the photographer saw and reflect on it. We hope that you do so and enjoy them.

Enjoy your holidays and check out our web site next year for all the details of our operation.

As Always, Happy Holidays,

Mike, Linda, Kate, Kim and Kris Cannata

“May God bless our country, and all who defend her!”