With the holidays in full swing and the Christmas movies schedule providing plenty of entertainment, many people are already in the midst of their nostalgic traditions. Whatever those traditions are, however, they probably don’t have full overlap with Taylor Swift and her family, as she grew up on a legit Christmas tree farm. The Pennsylvania native came out with the single “Christmas Tree Farm” back in 2021, recounting her time growing up there and how great the holidays were, even if they involved pulling praying mantises off trees, as evidenced by a resurfaced interview.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon shared an interview on YouTube of the “Fortnight” singer on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon back in November 2009, where she talked about growing up on a Christmas tree farm. She admitted that while she couldn’t do any of the heavy lifting since she was just a little girl, she shared that she did have a pretty important job:
It wasn’t actually my job to cut them down because I was, like, five. They put me to work, though. There are these bugs called praying mantises that lay eggs, and they form pods on the Douglas fir Christmas trees. It’s their favorite tree to infest. Bet you didn’t know that! That’s where I would come in. I would walk around the Christmas trees all day and pick them off and put them in, like a little basket, so that people wouldn’t have bugs in their houses. What an adorable little hobby for a child.
Pulling praying mantises off trees is not something that Swift shared in her Christmas song, and even though it doesn’t sound like it was greatest job for a little kid, she doesn’t seem to have minded. Plus, being surrounded by all of those trees probably made it feel like Christmas every single day, and knowing that she made it so that people wouldn’t have bugs in their houses probably made it feel worth it, or at least less gross.
In 2014, Taylor Swift talked about her family’s tree farm during an interview with Esquire, once again looking back at her childhood in Pennsylvania. Unsurprisingly, she revealed that it only made her love the holiday season even more. I can’t say I blame her, even if she did have to pick bugs from trees as a child:
It was such a weird place to grow up. But it has cemented in me this unnatural level of excitement about fall and then the holiday season. My friends are so sick of me talking about autumn coming. They’re like, ‘What are you, an elf?’
As for Swift’s own Christmas tree, it’s unknown what kind of tree she puts up each year and at what house(s). I suspect she probably still checks them for praying mantises out of habit. At the very least, growing up on a Christmas tree farm would have definitely either made her fully love or hate Christmas depending on how much of the holiday she could take and it sounds like she still loves it.
Unfortunately, despite Swift’s love for the holiday season, it didn’t matter so much during her record-breaking tour. The list of every surprise song she sang during Eras included much of her deep cut discography, but even though some of the shows took place in December, “Christmas Tree Farm” did not make the cut. Additionally, she has yet to come out with a re-record of her holiday EP, The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection. While the Eras Tour is now over, there is always the possibility that the holiday EP will get a re-record treatment in the future, among many of Swift’s upcoming projects. Whatever the case may be, her Christmas spirit will surely stay alive, even if her memories involving a lot of praying mantises.