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A tree-mendous holiday season

by DEVIN WEEKS
Staff Writer | November 29, 2020 1:20 AM

POST FALLS — A peaceful, scenic country drive leads to a farm on Stateline Road where visitors are greeted by rows of green Christmas trees and a large white barn adorned with a Christmas wreath and red bow.

Colorful and vocal roosters roam the grounds. A black dog runs joyfully with a ball or pinecone in her mouth. Families stroll with cups of hot cocoa in hand, searching for the perfect fir or spruce to be the centerpiece of their holiday season.

Cable Creek Farm feels like it was brought to life right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

"We’re trying to make it an experience," Cable Creek Farm owner Dave Tysdal said Friday. "It’s that old-fashioned Christmas, like a Hallmark Christmas kind of feel."

About 7,000 trees populate the acreage surrounding the farmhouse and barn, the latter of which has been converted into a gift shop where guests can find an array of locally made goods.

Cable Creek offers a rustic, atmospheric, North Idaho experience for visitors who can choose to wander the woods and cut down their tree by hand or find one already cut leaning on a stand on the lawn. Some of the pre-cuts were purchased from Carver Farms to provide an aesthetic variety, Tysdal explained.

"Not everybody wants to go to the field,” he said, smiling as he nodded toward the pre-cut trees. "Sometimes it’s pouring down rain, so it’s like, ‘I’ll take one of these.'"

This is Cable Creek's second year being open, and it's only open for two weekends a year after Thanksgiving.

However, the farm is far from idle in the off season.

"It's a year 'round process," Tysdal said. "In the spring we plant. In the summer we mow and we kill the weeds and we kill the gophers that like to kill the trees, and we shape them and top them.

"We top them so they don’t end up looking like a Charlie Brown tree," he added.

Cable Creek Farm — located in the proximity of Cable Creek — first began as a microdairy, but Tysdal said it didn't pan out, so he made a change of plans.

“I always wanted a Christmas tree farm, so I planted trees right away with the idea that in 10 years, I would have a tree farm,” said Tysdal, who is also a firefighter with the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department and a member of the Inland Empire Christmas Tree Association.

He said they plant 1,000 trees, equivalent to about an acre, per year to have 10 acres of trees so they can be rotated. These include grand fir, concolor fir and blue spruce. Tysdal said he plans to plant more: “It’s going to keep growing."

Farm guests are treated to cocoa, photo opportunities, visits with resident farm animals including Tulip the donkey, and an overall sense of enjoying an American Christmas.

Andrew Gardner, wife Suzanne and 3-year-old daughter Lorraine found the perfect tree, which they cut down with a handsaw.

“It’s pretty fun,” Suzanne said. “It’s family tradition, so it’s nice to be able to do it so close to home. We’re grateful.”

The Sullivan family — dad Jake, mom Shaena and kiddos Hailey, 8, Kade, 2, and Isla, 4 months — are longtime friends with the Tysdal family.

"I used to actually help plant the Christmas trees," Shaena said. "They’ve put a lot of work into this. They deserve the recognition and for people to come out and support them."

Jen Meier of Spokane checked out Cable Creek with her family.

“It’s a cute farm and they have a decent selection of trees," she said. "We came out here because we were tired of going to Green Bluff, and it was a quicker jaunt on I-90 to get out here. And it’s cute and small. We just wanted not a lot of people.”

“I like it,” said daughter Cecelia, 10. “It’s a cool walk, and I finally get to get out of the house.”

Jen's son, Dylan, 8, enjoyed watching the trees be transported via ATV.

“At the other place, they drag it back on a tractor,” he said. "I didn’t know that tiny bin could hold one of those huge trees."

Cable Creek Farm is open today and will be open Friday though next Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Trees of all sizes are $70 plus tax. Wreaths are $35 to $45, plus tax. Curbside pickup of all trees/wreaths and gift shop items is available.

Employees are masked and available to assist car-side with everything from selecting/loading your tree to fulfilling gift orders and car-side payment.

Masks are required in the gift shop. Capacity is limited to 15 people at a time.

Cable Creek Farm is at 3866 S. Stateline Road, Post Falls.

Info: 208-659-1223 (text preferred, limited cell service at the farm) or www.cablecreekfarm.com

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DEVIN WEEKS/Press

The Sullivan family - Hailey, 8, mom Shaena, baby Isla, son Kade, 2, and dad Jake - measure pre-cut Christmas trees at Cable Creek Farm on Friday. Cable Creek is in its second season of being open and offers an Americana experience for Christmas tree-seekers looking for a memorable time.

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DEVIN WEEKS/Press

Brothers Cooper, left, and Lukas Loney shake needles off a tree using a special tree-shaker Friday at Cable Creek Farms.

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DEVIN WEEKS/Press

Jen Meier and kids Dylan, 8, and Cecelia, 10, step out of the barn gift shop at Cable Creek Farm during a visit Friday. “It’s a cute farm and they have a decent selection of trees," Jen said.

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DEVIN WEEKS/Press

Beth Tysdal, who runs the gift shop at Cable Creek Farm, wraps up a few locally made items for Debbie Morris on Friday. Everything in the gift shop is made by local artisans.

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DEVIN WEEKS/Press

This is Tulip, one of many furry and feathered friends to meet at Cable Creek Farm.