Bainbridge Island Suyematsu Farms says it just finished a record pumpkin season and sold out of carving pumpkins twice. Its next opening is on the west side. The tree field at 13610 Manzanita Rd opens for Christmas tree sales on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving.
The pumpkin patch and the tree field share more than a website. They come from the same farming operation, and that operation traces back to a homestead on Day Road that turns 100 in 2028. When you cut a fir on Manzanita Road this year, you're taking part in the last harvest of a farm calendar that runs from dahlias to pumpkins to trees.
One Farm, Two Fields
In 2022, The Island Wanderer described how the pieces fit together. Karen Selvar, who held a sublease at the Day Road farm through Friends of the Farms, began working for Akio Suyematsu when she was 9 years old. She spent every summer after that picking the harvest, through her college years and beyond. At the time she raised strawberries, raspberries, pumpkins, squash and dahlias on Day Road. She also owned and managed the Manzanita Road farmland, home to her main dahlia field and, later in the year, u-cut Christmas trees, fresh wreaths and garland. The outlet reported that the two locations are known together as Bainbridge Island/Suyematsu Farms.
That same account called Bainbridge Island/Suyematsu Farms the oldest, largest continually operating farm in Kitsap County, raising 100,000 pounds of produce a year. It also called the Manzanita farm the only u-cut Christmas tree farm on the island. That was true when it was written in 2022, and it explains why so much of the island's holiday tree traffic ends up on one west-side road.
The Manzanita field follows the same seasons. The farm's u-pick dahlia field, more than half an acre of blooms on Manzanita Rd, closed for 2026 before the trees took over the calendar. Summer flowers and winter firs come off the same ground.
The Homestead Behind the Name
The Suyematsu name goes back to 1928, when Yasuji Suyematsu built the original barn on Day Road from wood milled on Bainbridge. In October, the Bainbridge Island Review reported that restoration is underway on the farm's five-acre "historic section." The Suyematsu Farm Legacy Alliance plans to open that section to the public for the farm's centennial in 2028. The barn's interior will be retrofitted as an educational center.
The Review reported that the alliance wants to recreate the homestead as it looked from 1938 to 1942, at the height of Bainbridge's strawberry industry. The Suyematsu family raised seven children there, including their eldest, Akio. Alliance board member Jon Garfunkel described the aim to the Review this way:
"Our goal is basically to bring the original homestead back to life. The idea is to allow people to come back here to see what it looked like at that period of time."
Garfunkel also told the Review how he sees the farm alongside the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. The memorial honors "what happened for two hours on one day," he said, while the farm "brings all of the surrounding history to life to put those two hours in perspective."
Getting here took years of work. In November 2025, the Review reported that a six-organization alliance had received a 15-year management agreement for the City-owned 5.1-acre historic site. That agreement covers the historic Day Road site, not the Manzanita tree field. Both still grow out of the same family story, and this December falls between the restoration's start and the 2028 centennial.
What the Tree Field Offers This Year
The farm's Christmas Season page sets out the 2026 details. The field opens on the Friday after Thanksgiving and stays open every day until the trees sell out. The farm advises coming early for the best selection.
- Opening day: Friday, November 27, 2026, 9:00 a.m. until dark
- Saturdays and Sundays: 9:00 a.m. until dark
- Weekdays: 12:00 p.m. until dark
- Trees: pre-cut and u-cut, 3 to 12 feet, priced by the foot
- Greenery: fresh wreaths, garland, holly and holiday arrangements, plus custom-sized wreaths you can preorder for pickup
- Gifts: flower subscription and dahlia collection gift certificates
On weekdays the field opens at noon and closes at dark, which leaves only a few hours in early December. Plan weekday visits for early afternoon.
The farm offers both pre-cut and u-cut trees for a reason. In a December 2021 account, The Island Wanderer reported that drought had killed successive plantings. To keep up with demand, the farm added pre-cut trees from Shelton and elsewhere in Washington to its u-cut stock. That was five seasons ago, so it says nothing about this year's supply. It does show that a tree field is a working crop that depends on weather, just like the pumpkins that sold out twice.
The farm's page doesn't list tree species, payment methods or whether saws are provided. Past seasons included visits from Santa, who in 2022 arrived in a vintage 1949 Dodge truck to pose for photos with families and their dogs. For this year's plans, check the farm's Facebook page or call the recorded farm line at 206-842-1429. The farm also says Google sometimes shows it as closed when it's open, and that its own site and social media have the current hours.
Building a West-Side December Around the Farm
Opening day has company. The Bainbridge Island Land Trust's calendar lists a Guided Walk at Grand Forest on Friday, November 27, with details still to come. A morning in the woods and an afternoon at the tree field make a west-side day after Thanksgiving with no ferry involved.
The rest of the season, in order:
- Saturday, November 14: Seabold Second Saturday acoustic open stage at Seabold Community Hall, 14450 Komedal Road NE, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. A listing on bainbridgeisland.com gives admission as $8, free for children, and says no one is turned away for lack of funds.
- Saturday, November 21: The BARN Holiday Bazaar, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with handmade goods and food. It's also the last day of the Bainbridge Island Farmers Market season, which runs Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Friday, November 27: The Manzanita Road tree field opens at 9 a.m., and the Land Trust leads its Grand Forest walk.
- Saturday, December 12: Seabold's next Second Saturday open stage, same hours and terms as November.
- Monday, December 21: The Land Trust's Solstice Night Woods Walk at Hilltop, with more information to come.
Event listings can change, so confirm each one with its organizer close to the date.
If you want more greenery than a tree, the Friends of the Farms 2024 Kitsap Christmas tree directory listed Heide's Holly Farm at 7056 NE New Brooklyn Rd. It sold holly trees, cut branches and bundles, with visits by appointment. That listing is two seasons old, so call ahead.
Why the Date on the Calendar Matters
The field stays open until the stock is gone, so the season has no fixed end. Opening weekend has the widest choice of sizes, from tabletop trees to 12-foot trees for tall great rooms. After that, each day brings fewer trees. For a household that wants a particular height, Friday, November 27 at 9 a.m. is the time to go.
Two more things to plan around. Custom-sized wreaths are preorder items, so order early if you need a specific size for a door or gate. The farm also posts updates in its Farm Happenings newsletter, and it has e-gift cards if the tree is meant as a gift.
A little over two years from now, the barn Yasuji Suyematsu built in 1928 is scheduled to reopen as a place where islanders can learn about the farm. Until then, the farm's public season ends at the tree field on Manzanita Road, starting at 9 a.m. on November 27.
Have a question about Manzanita and the west side, or about how an island property's setting shapes daily life through the seasons? Claudia Powers has lived on Bainbridge since 2000 and is glad to share what she knows of these roads, farms and woods. Let's Connect.
