The farm: “My husband Anthony and I have been selling Christmas trees for 23 years here in Skeheenarinky, along with the help of our son Kieran. Before the trees, there were sheep and cattle on the farm. Now, we have 12,000 to 14,000 trees growing over seven acres.”

We grow: “Mainly Nordmann Fir on the farm as they are blight-resistant. We have had some issues with Noble Fir as they are susceptible to blight. We are sticking with Nordmann Fir and some Korean Fir. Our trees range from 3ft to 17ft and are all selected by ourselves. The trees need to be worked on annually. From the time of planting the tree to selling could take seven years. They grow roughly about one foot per year.”

Choosing the tree: “The trees are freshly cut and we display the trees in the yard and people can choose their tree and then we will put it in netting for them to take home. I offer complimentary chocolate lollipops for the kids and my own recipe non-alcoholic fruit punch. Some people like to linger because of the smell of pine around place, it’s not a rushed job. I also sell fresh holly reeds and tree stands here.”

Toy show: “We were very busy in the lead up to the Late Late Toy Show, as a lot of people wanted to have their trees up for that. It’s usually a crazy four weeks from when we start cutting trees right up until Christmas.”

Anthony Caplice covering a tree in netting. \ Claire Nash

Off season: “The trees need to be worked on all year round. Anthony puts in a lot of work down the field weeding, shaping, fertilising and pruning the trees.”

Quotable quote: “A lot of people think that you grow Christmas trees and seven or eight years later you get all this soft money, they need all year round work, if it was that easy they’d be all at it.”