Farm History

Fritz and Jane were both born and raised in the Cleveland area and have been proud Geauga county residents for twenty-five years. Fritz was formerly a “tree guy” and Certified Arborist by trade, operating a tree service for close to 30 years.  Jane operated a market research and consulting firm for twelve years, bringing some marketing, financial and general business skills to the table… make that, the barn.

Fritz (III), 20, is an avid outdoorsman and already a natural at tree farming. He can operate every tractor, baler and mower on the farm, helps with planting, cuts firewood, and can usually be seen driving some sort of ATV or dirt bike around (probably too fast), helping in any way he can. Sam, 16, continues to keep the “spirited” in holiday spirit. While he likes to help out around the farm he prefers the tree barn in its off season glory as a basketball court on the inside and baseball pitching wall on the outside. Always ready with a big smile, Sam’s favorite job on the farm is greeting customers when they pull down the driveway to get their trees!

Sugar Pines Farm was started by Glenn and Carol Battles when they purchased the 100 acre farm in 1977. The land had not been used as a working farm for many years, until Glenn’s brother Ramon (owner of Tower-n-Pines farm down the street) introduced the idea of Christmas trees to him, showing him how to shear some of the white pines that had been planted for reforestation. The Christmas tree idea took root and Glenn and Carol and their children began clearing and planting the fields that had been abandoned and neglected for 25 years. The crop has grown from an initial planting of 3,000 trees to approximately 28,000 trees spread across 30 acres today.