When Cecil Delp saw his cousins in Michigan harvest wild evergreens and sell them as Christmas trees, he brought the idea to Stafford County.

The Delp Christmas Tree Farm in St. John started in 1959 as a 4-H project for Cecil’s sons, Phil and Tony, and grew over the years to be a family-run business through three generations.

“Cecil planted 17,500 trees the first year,” says Joel Delp, Tony’s son and the third generation to run the farm. “As far as we know, it was the first Christmas tree farm in Kansas.”

“My dad didn’t like to do anything like everybody else did, so that’s one reason he planted the trees,” Tony says.

 Rooted in tradition

Tony still owns the farm while his son Joel and his wife, Sarah, operate the business. Growing up, Joel and his two brothers helped on the farm, as farm kids are typically required to do.

“When Joel and his brothers were working in the summers, we’d have as many as 30 high school kids help shear and trim the trees,” Tony remembers.

“At that time, we had 300,000 trees, so it took the whole summer, and you have to shape each one by hand,” Joel says.

Joel’s experience on the farm at a young age didn’t deter him from returning to the laborious work. He got a degree in fisheries biology from Kansas State University, then a master’s in science education from Arizona State University.

Joel and his wife stayed in Arizona for four years, returned to Kansas and eventually settled back home in St. John.

“I’ve always been interested in ecology and the outdoors,” Joel says. “It’s been beneficial using that passion in growing trees.”

A Christmas wonderland

The farm has downsized throughout the years to now growing 20,000 trees on 35 acres. Seven varieties are planted on the irrigated Christmas tree farm including Scotch pine, Austrian pine, Eastern White pine, Southwestern White pine, Concolor fir, Canaan fir and Douglas fir. The farm also cultivates approximately 700 fruit trees.

The Delps are one of very few farmers who can successfully grow fir trees because of their soil.

“We have sandy soil here, which is what they tend to prefer,” Joel says.

The Delps plant around 2,000 trees each spring that are two to three years old, and it’s a minimum of seven years until they’re harvestable.

“And that’s the faster-growing varieties like the pines,” Joel says. “For firs, it’s closer to 10 years.”

Although they offer a great diversity of Christmas tree varieties on their own operation, they supplement a few Fraser firs from North Carolina, catering to the preference of some of their clientele.

For Sarah, she prefers the Concolor.

“When you break one of the needles, it has this lovely citrus smell,” she says. “I also really like its unique look.”

Beyond traditional trees, the farm offers flocked trees and wreaths, which are made by spraying a non-toxic cellulose and glue mixture to give it a snow effect.

“We have several wreaths we flock, plus a few trees,” Joel says. “We also flock trees in different colors like purple, blue or pink.”

During the peak holiday season, wreaths are made by hand on the operation.

“We went through 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of greenery this year for wreaths,” Tony says.

The Delps will sell upwards of 1,000 trees in a season, typically to repeat customers who have fond memories of the Christmas tree farm.

“We have a lot of people come here and tell us about the times they’d come here as a kid,” Joel says. “We love seeing all the generations keep coming back.”

Growing work ethics

The family’s three generations provide a rich history in adapting to change, embracing the new and fostering strong work ethics.

“The farm allows us to work as a family and teaches about responsibility,” Joel says. “St. John is a wonderful community to raise a family.”

“It’s great working with my son. I can sit here in the office and tell him what needs to be done,” Tony jokes. “No, seriously, I do enjoy it. I enjoy the people who come in. I like to go out and visit with them because a lot of them have been here for several years and knew my father. It’s fun to hear the stories.”

The Delp family’s connection to Christmas trees runs deep. Cecil Delp served on the very first board of directors for the Kansas Christmas Tree Association, they’ve been chosen to send a Christmas tree to the Kansas governor several times, and even sent one to Sen. Bob Dole in Washington, D.C.

“Bob Dole was all about showing us around when we were in D.C.,” Tony says. “He offered to take us to the Senate floor, but his staffer had to tear him away from us to go vote on something. We enjoyed knowing he cared we were there.”

The Delp Christmas Tree Farm has become more than just a farm for the Delp family and the St. John community. It’s a testament to the values of small-town community, hard work and trying things that are uncommon. Each new year on the Delp Christmas Tree Farm brings familiar faces, new traditions and the continued legacy of Cecil Delp.  

For more information about the Delp Christmas Tree Farm, visit www.delptreefarm.com and follow them on Facebook.

BY SHERIDAN WIMMER

Kansas Living Magazine, a publication of Kansas Farm Bureau