Where has the time gone? School has started, rain has fallen, and summer has faded. Strawberry season came and went in a flash, and our beehives had a busy summer gathering nectar and pollen from all over the farm. But we’ve been hard at work, because Christmas is coming before you know it!

Our schedule for Christmas 2023 will be:

Saturday, November 25
Sunday, November 26

Saturday, December 2
Sunday, December 3

Saturday, December 9
Sunday, December 10

Our hours are 9 am – 3 pm. Prices remain unchanged from 2022: Trees are $80 and up; wreaths are $40. Accepted payment methods are cash and check.

Due to the overwhelming popularity of our cut-your-own trees, we strongly recommend you visit us on Saturday 11/26 if you wish to cut your own tree, in order to have the best selection. We cannot guarantee availability after this date. We will also have our selection of pre-cut trees in multiple varieties.

The farm stays busy all spring and summer each year as we plant new fields of Christmas trees. Look around the farm and you’ll see blocks of fir and spruce seedlings growing- they take from five to seven years to reach a salable height, and Mother Nature can’t be rushed! As you visit each year, you can enjoy watching these baby trees grow and flourish until they are at last ready to be chosen as a family’s Christmas tree – and then a new tree will be planted in its place, and we begin the cycle again.

Our hand crafted wreaths, made with fresh boughs from the farm, will be available with your choice of Jeanne’s handmade bows. We’re also pleased to once again offer of our local honey from our own beehives, thanks to another great year of work by our bees. If it’s a warm day when you visit, you may be able to see some of the bees at work. Ask one of our “branch managers” to show you the hives!

As always, we suggest you dress for the weather, and if you are bringing your family dog please ensure they remain leashed for your entire visit.

We look forward to welcoming you back to the farm for another season and seeing you all in just a few short months!

Now that the last of the cold weather is well behind us, the farm is once again abuzz with activity as everyone gets to work – including our bees!

Our beehives have weathered the winter season and the bees have been out collecting pollen and beginning this year’s batch of honey. While they’re at work, they’re also helping us by pollinating gardens – including the strawberries we grow at the farm!

Bruce has also been very busy this month. All of the fields have been prepared for planting and Bruce has heeled in two hundred transplants. These baby trees will still need years to grow to the proper height and size, so the trees we plant this year will grow until Christmas 2029.

Branch Manager Meghan stopped by to supervise and give her thoughts on this newest crop of trees. Her assistance was invaluable and she kept Bruce on schedule!

This winter, we were pleased to learn Tilden Lane Farm has been selected by Trees.com as one of 2022’s Best Christmas Tree Farms in the New York City region! Their selection criteria included 25 categories, including availability, credentials, reputation, services, and professionalism. We deeply appreciate this recognition!

As you may have seen in the news recently, Tilden Lane Farm welcomed some visitors to the Farm. Bruce and Jeanne were pleased to join officials from the Town of Huntington and Suffolk County for a press conference to announce the sale of the development rights for Tilden Lane Farm.

We’ve heard quite a few questions about what this all means and how it affects the future of the farm, and we hope to answer those questions for you now!

1. What does it mean to sell development rights?
   Selling development rights restricts the future use of a property, so that the land can only be used for agricultural purposes. The Farmland Development Rights program for Suffolk County is the first such program of its kind in the United States, and its goal is to help preserve farmland and ensure that these vital and historical properties are able to maintain themselves and their historical agricultural character.
   
2. Who purchased the development rights for TLF?
   The Town of Huntington and Suffolk County came together in a 50/50 partnership. With this purchase, Tilden Lane Farm becomes part of nearly 20,000 acres of preserved open farmland throughout Suffolk County, 300 acres of which are located within the Town of Huntington.
   
3. Does this mean the farm is public property?
   The farm is not public property. The farm continues to be owned and run by the Tilden family. We are a working farm and are constantly planting and tending to our crops as well as caring for our beehives; all of this work means that the farm is only open to the public during Christmas tree season.
   
4. What does the development rights sale mean for TLF?
   This sale means TLF will be able to continue farming as the family has done for generations, and allows us to keep planting trees, instead of planting houses. The sale of the development rights is our promise to the community that Tilden Lane Farm will continue to be a farm.

We are very pleased to be a part of the Town Clerk’s “Farming In Huntington” exhibit at Huntington Town Hall to celebrate the history of farming as part of Archives Month 2020. Tilden Lane Farm is one of 19 Huntington farms that have contributed artifacts, photographs, and antiques to the exhibit. Viewing is by appointment. Information on visiting the exhibit can be found in this release.

Bruce was invited to attend the official opening of the exhibit and received a certificate from Town Clerk Andrew Raia recognizing TLF’s contribution to the Farming In Huntington exhibit and to the community. We’re so pleased and honored to participate in this exhibit!

Over Memorial Day Weekend we transplanted several hundred baby trees to prepare for future seasons!  Right now these baby trees are only as tall as Logan but in four or five years they will be just right for Christmas trees.

l-r: Rebecca, Abigail, Logan, Andrew, Bruce and Mike, tired but happy after a long weekend planting 100+ new trees. (Lucy the Puppy helped too!)

As many of our friends and neighbors have heard, in early November Herbert S. Tilden died at the age of 92 at his home on the farm, surrounded by his family.   We look forward to honoring his memory this season. In addition to his lifelong work as a farmer, with his  wife of 50 years, Mable Flathmann Tilden, at his side, he raised five sons- the late Jeffrey (Ann), Bruce (Jeanne), Lee (Diane), Donald (Cyndy), and John (Christine). He was the  proud grandfather of Abigail, Rebecca (Mike), Andrew, Emily (Jon), Daniel,and David, and great-grandfather of Logan.

Following in his own father’s footsteps, Herb was a 68 year member of the Greenlawn Volunteer Fire Department.  He also served four terms as a Commissioner of the Greenlawn Fire District.  Herb was instrumental in the founding of the ambulance service of the GFD Rescue Squad in 1961.  He is shown below (far left) with fellow Squad members receiving an award in 1964 for a rescue where a car accident victim with a broken neck was safely extricated and transported without further injury or paralysis.

His sons Bruce and Lee, and Lee’s wife Diane, are proud to carry on the family tradition of GFD service for the third generation.

Like dandelion seeds in the wind, our memories of a life well lived will always surround us.