FRANKFORT, Ky. — The holiday season is once again upon us, and for many, the tradition of picking out the perfect Christmas tree is its pinnacle.

Fred Kirchhoff knows that all too well. He and his family have operated their Christmas tree farm in Franklin County for more than 10 years, seeing countless families make their way to his Hickory Ridge residence to find their perfect tree.

“We planted our first trees in 1991 and began selling them in 1998,” he said. “We’ve had real trees for Christmas since I was a kid, and we wanted to do something with the farm to make it pay for itself.”

The Kirchhoffs’ 75-acre farm is home to about 5,000-6,000 trees, of which they sell 200-300 in a season. All are Scotch Pines except for the White Pines used for wreaths. “We open the first day after Thanksgiving and we’ll have a few customers who’ve made it a tradition to come on Christmas Eve to pick out their tree,” said Kirchhoff.

While the thought of being surrounded by the essence of the holidays sounds warm-hearted and appealing, Kirchhoff said it’s a lot of work as well.

“They don’t actually grow this way as a matter of routine. We have to do a lot of trimming and shaping to make them look like Christmas trees,” he said. “We usually plant new seedlings in late March and trim trees in June or July when it’s hot.”

That was especially true this year as the state suffered through record heat and drought, taking its toll on new trees and those which had not been in the best of shape before the drought. Kirchhoff said they lost almost all of the 1,000 saplings they planted, at a cost of a few thousand dollars.

While the monetary loss is bearable, the $40 per tree he could have gotten once they were big enough to cut creates a more substantial loss. It takes perhaps as long as six to 10 years for a sapling to become mature enough to cut as a Christmas tree. With that in mind, this year’s drought may not be evident in the tree business for a few years to come.

Kirchhoff is optimistic, though, and said he will plant again next year and hopefully make up for the loss. For the most part, the farm has plenty of beautiful, healthy trees for years to come.

He also credits the size of his business with helping to cushion the blow in a year like 2007.

“We have a small-scale operation here, just big enough for the family to run, but it is still disheartening to see all that hard work go down the drain,” he said. “I still work another job, but I plan to retire soon and make the farm a little more full-time.”

The family members who help run the business include Kirchhoff’s wife, Francis, two sons-in-law who make all the wreaths and a daughter who does all the decorating.

Besides being a member of the Kentucky Christmas Tree Assoc., an organization for which he once served as president, Kirchhoff also participates in the “Kentucky Proud” program. “The program has been a big plus for us. We try to promote this as agriculture and put that Kentucky Proud label on everything,” he said.

The program is a trademarked initiative developed by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to aid Kentuckians in establishing or expanding their marketplace.

While losses hurt and the work is hard, there is something special about what the Kirchhoffs do, and they revive that feeling every year at about this time.

“A couple of years ago, a family was here looking for their tree when their daughter let out a scream,” he said. “We all ran to see what was wrong, when she said, with so much excitement, she had just seen a reindeer!

“That’s a neat feeling, and one of the reasons I do this.”