Beerburrum pine farm providing Christmas joy
FROM passionfruits to a passion project, the Ziser family are giving hinterland households access to homegrown Christmas trees for the first time.
After 20 years growing tropical passion fruits at their Beerburrum property, Kay and Errol Ziser knew it was time for a change.
The couple are now fully invested in their ‘Sunshine Coast Tree Farm’.
“For about 10 years, I have been wanting to downsize growing passion fruit, dragon fruit and custard apples, to grow Christmas trees,” Kaye said.
“It’s been great to grow those fruits for 20 years, but now we want to focus on Christmas trees.
“We should have down sized years ago!”
Kaye’s dream to grow Christmas trees goes back to when she was a child celebrating Christmas in the hinterland.
“It was just one of those things where I had the idea and we thought why wouldn’t it work,” she said
“As a kid we had real trees.
“Dad used to go to a bush paddock and cut one down, so it’s in our blood.
“Errol’s family used to do the same thing.”
It has taken a while to turn Kaye’s vision into a reality, taking a few years to grow the pines to a suitable size, but they are finally the right size to sell to customers.
“It’s the first year we’ve been able to sell trees,” she said.
“We’ve been growing them for a couple of years, because they have to be a certain size to sell.”
Kaye added there has been a great community response to the business.
Many of those who have ordered a tree have never had a real Christmas tree and are now starting a new tradition.
“People love the idea of having a real Christmas tree I’ve got so many people that are so excited, and in their messages to us you can tell that excitement,” she said.
“A lot of people who have ordered trees, quite a few of them have never had a real Christmas tree before, it’s helping to start a new tradition for them.
“We have 4500 trees growing at all different stages, I think we’d have about 100-200 tree orders so far but we will only have a limited amount this year.”
Their punt on pine is paying off with high demand meaning their larger trees are sold with five and six foot trees – costing $110 and $130 respectively – available for purchase.
The Ziser’s said that with the right conditions next year a full range of trees would be available for the 2024 festive season.
To order a tree, message Sunshine Coast Christmas Tree Farm’s Facebook page.