PHOTO GALLERY: Boonville tree farm helps family with Christmas tree

Wayne Harmon pulls a Christmas tree through a tree baler on Wednesday at Starr Pines farm in Boonville. Harmon owns the farm and has been growing and selling Christmas trees for 26 years.
  |  Kayla Kauffman

A freshly cut Christmas tree sits at Starr Pines. To maintain tree freshness, owner Wayne Harmon cuts at least an inch off the base of every pre-cut Christmas tree before customers take them home. This way, they soak up more water after they are put in a tree stand.
  |  Kayla Kauffman

Peter Cleavinger waits for his nine-foot Christmas tree to be baled at Starr Pines farms on Wednesday in Boonville. Cleavinger, his wife and four children drove out to the farm from Columbia to pick out a tree after they failed to find a tree locally. Most places that sell pre-cut Christmas trees in Columbia have already sold out for the season.
  |  Kayla Kauffman

Wayne Harmon checks out a customer purchasing a Christmas tree. Harmon has held tree prices for the past three years, despite the rising costs of operating the farm. Harmon charges $4.75 per foot for his trees, so most cost between $30 and $45.   |  Kayla Kauffman

Mary Cleavinger, 15, helps her father, Peter Cleavinger, attach their new Christmas tree to the top of their minivan on Wednesday at Starr Pines farms in Boonville.   |  Kayla Kauffman