Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Grandpa's Christmas Tree Farm
The Friday after Thanksgiving is a busy day for Grandpa and our family. We help Grandpa on the farm. It is cold and wet outside in November here in the state of Washington. A low fog begins lifting by early morning. Everyone gets dressed in his or her warmest winter clothes. It is harvest time on Grandpa's Christmas tree farm.
Acres and acres of trees stand up straight, their tops pointing skyward. Fields of noble firs, Douglas firs, Fraser firs, grand firs, and Nordmann firs are ready to be harvested. Most of them are taller than Grandpa. The trees to be harvested are usually between six and eight years old.
Everyone who helps with harvest must be dressed warmly. All the Christmas trees are wet because of the rain. Grandpa and Dad wear their harvest hats - a red-checkered baseball cap with earflaps. They each wear thick, insulated gloves and a pair of rubber overalls. A raincoat is worn over their padded winter jackets. The rain gear keeps them dry.
Grandpa has been preparing for this year's harvest all year. He began pruning and shaping the branches to look like real Christmas trees in August. The trees are measured in the weeks before Thanksgiving.
Grandpa uses a long pole to measure each tree's size. The pole is marked with a different color for each height. The five to six-foot level is red. The six to seven-foot level is yellow, and the seven to eight-foot level is green. He stands the pole next to each tree to measure its height. A ribbon color that matches the measurement is tied to a branch on each tree. This will come in handy after the trees have been cut.
