On Neighborhood Christmas Tree Markets

Barbara and The Elmwood Village Association, after completing a collaborative garden and green space construction project at Elmwood and Bidwell in 2014, asked Buffalo Horticulture if we could help make Christmas trees available in the Elmwood Village once again as they had disappeared several years previous. This is our third season delivering them to the Elmwood Bidwell Farmer’s Market space through the holidays. This season we have also set up a market as part of an event with Wrafterbuilt at their store in Allentown.

I have come to think of our Christmas tree markets as having a reciprocal relationship between our professional tradition and the neighborhood's want to have its means for living accessible immediately nearby. I live on the West Side in the 14213, West Utica Street. I would be happiest if I never had to go north of Forest Avenue or South of Tupper - something that in the winter I can pull off for a couple weeks at a time. There is no amount of money I'm not willing to pay the Lexington Coop for the safety of not heading past Buff State (Eventually I break down and muster the courage to head up to Aldi). Ninety-nine of a hundred coffees I have still come from the cafes/caffes in The Village and not the new wave of High Coffee anchoring and changing old neighborhoods to new ones. "Urban Roots” is one of Buffalo Horticulture's most visited vendors because of its proximity. There are countless restaurants I can't bear to eat at again but will because they are close. Unfortunately not much in the way of utility is really available near to us. I can get cat liter at Rite Aid or cat food at the Elmwood Village Pet Store but if I need socks or basic white "Fruit of the Loom" T-shirts (The corner Bodega doesn't carry my brand) I have to head up to the parking lot land to the North.

​I think it is the responsibility of Buffalo Horticulture to act as the portal for Christmas Trees to flow into The Village, Allentown, and the neighborhoods we represent. The tradition has always been filled by the industry we image ourselves attached to and if we are to represent this historical niche as "Nursery & Landscape" in our community then we don't get to pick and choose what is easiest and most profitable. If Buffalo Horticulture is to fulfill its traditional role then we can't stop at “Design and Build;" it leaves the community incomplete as well as Buffalo Horticulture’s identity. Also, the traditional space that community and business are reciprocally built on is left vacant, like the parking lots that have replaced them.