Elizabeth “Birdie” Burd and her partner run Celebration Tree Farm and Yoga in West Durham. After the paddleboarding and yoga craze broke out, we thought society had reached its peak of namaste mania. Then this place popped up on our Facebook feed and we had to call, if only just to find out how those two things intersect. We learned a few new things, including the fact that Burd, though she’s a “country girl” who grew up in Winthrop and Readfield, never planned to be a Christmas tree farmer. (Yoga she didn’t stumble into.)

INHERITED FIRS: When Burd and her partner, Jonah Fertig (a founding member of Maine Farm and Sea Cooperative) found their perfect house a little more than a year ago, it came with a lot of land, including 14 acres of organically grown Christmas trees planted by the previous owners, John Ackerman and his wife, Diane. Ackerman, a trained forester with a landscaping business, died in November 2014. Burd and Fertig bought the farm about a year later. Two weeks after they moved in, Burd says, they started selling trees. “It was crazy.” And it was almost in self-defense. Burd wasn’t excited about selling trees, but the Ackerman place had loyal customers. “We knew people were going to come anyway,” Burd said. Also, “we wanted to try out the business, even though we had no idea if we would like it, or would want to keep doing it.”

WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE? Sticking with the trees, which are mostly balsam fir with some Fraser firs mixed in, seems like a no-brainer. But not for a couple who weren’t into Christmas trees – in fact, they hadn’t had one in years. “Neither of us as adults had done the tree-in-the-house thing. I would be more likely to decorate a plant that I already had in the house. I am more into lights.”

THE NAME GAME: They renamed the farm, which had been called Brookside, Celebration Tree Farm. “We didn’t want to call them Christmas trees,” Burd said. “We didn’t want to be that specific because not everybody wants a Christmas tree. Some people get a solstice tree or New Year’s Eve tree.” Really? Burd swears some customers have said they were purchasing solstice trees. “I only saw it once,” she conceded. “But Jonah has seen it too.”

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY: Ackerman was a fan of organic, both in the garden and for his Christmas trees. “He did not believe in using the chemicals.” And neither does she, although Celebration Tree Farm is not certified organic by MOFGA (yet – Burd and Fertig are working on it). His trees are natural looking and not, she said “super super cone-shaped.” They haven’t gotten the pruning shears out yet but will next year. “We just loved how the trees looked already. We got so many compliments on the fact that they were not overly pruned.” They’ve got a lot to learn, she said, and in the spring they’ll do some replanting. “We are more focused on keeping the forest healthy and making more room for the younger trees.”

HOLIDAY STRESS REDUCER? The yoga studio is under renovation, but that should be wrapped up in time for January classes. Burd has been a certified yoga teacher since 2004, specializing in Kripalu yoga. She started practicing yoga when she was about 13. “I found a yoga book on my mom’s book shelf and that was just it. The spiritual aspect was appealing to me. Especially during the teen years, it was nice to have something like that to go to.” She teaches everyone from children to people in wheelchairs. “It’s for the people.” She’s hoping that the home studio will reduce her time on the road (and carbon footprint) since she currently teaches in locations from Portland all the way to Lewiston. Next Christmas season, will she offer a holiday stress reliever yoga class? “That will be part of the marketing, thank you.” She already does extra relaxation techniques in classes at this time of year. “I will start in shavasana,” she said. (That’s corpse pose for the uninitiated, and usually it happens at the end of the class.) “And then I will just sort of talk about the holiday stress and about taking five minutes to focus on your breath.”

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