December 16, 2005

• Christmas trees are a crop, grown on a farm. Do you feel guilty about the wheat that had to be harvested just to make your sandwich?
• I didn't say I personally felt guilty. 'Cause I have a lovely cut tree sitting in my living room. On the other hand, this is a nice way for the city to score some free trees. And it does kinda seem to be a waste for a tree to grow for years, then be cut down just to look at for a couple weeks.
• Yeah, I never quite got why its a bad thing- it's not like deforesting the Amazon- they can grow more next year. nevertheless my parents used to get a live Christmas tree in a big "root sack" every year, then plant them in the back yard after Christmas.
• "Environmentalists say growing real trees is a waste of valuable resources ..." Now I'm confused...I thought environmentalists liked trees. Now they say that growing them is bad? The article also says the trees are delivered and picked up. Is this delivery by bicycle? Solar-powered car? I certainly hope they're not burning fossil fuels just to move a tree around town.
• i think it has to do with the water & fertilizer used for 6-8 years for a two week payoff. But that's just a guess. There are other fights to have, IMMO.
• xpost w/petebest! It's a question of the use of resources, and the environmental impact. Christmas trees are a crop and as such they can be managed more or less sustainably. If the tree is grown needing lots of irrigation and chemical fertilizer and pesticide, then it's a fairly poor use of resources to chop it down and put it in the corner for a month. This article has some tips on disposing of your live treein environmentally friendly ways.
• Hello People, Portland as well! /throws up eastside, hollas at the wessies, represents the rose
• I certainly hope they're not burning fossil fuels just to move a tree around town. Yeah, because as we all know, fossil fuels aren't used to deliver trees from tree farms hundreds of miles away.
• I just dress up my ficus tree for the holidays. Looks really cute that way, as if it enjoys being the center of attention.
• This is a really nice idea. I have no objection to the traditional cut trees, and I know farmers who make their living that way and manage their resources well. But this is a nice alternative, too, especially in a big West Coast city where evergreen farming is less practical. And I think it's great for kids to learn that Christmas doesn't have to look a certain way to be meaningful.
• I have a wee little Christmas tree in my living room right now. There's something about a real tree. I think when I get a place of my own I'll go the route of drjimmy11's folks. I've always liked the idea of having a little herd of Christmas trees in my yard that I could decorate. On a related (sort of) note, has anyone else noticed that Christmas trees don't smell as much as they used to? It seems like when I was a kid the tree's smell would permeate the whole house with smelly goodness, and the trees I've gotten the past couple of years haven't smelled like much at all. It's kind of sad.
• i spoke with a farmer friend a while back about christmas trees as a crop. according to him, they're not a very environmentally friendly crop because they disturb the pH of the soil and encourage top soil erosion (in ireland, the pine plantations tend to be on higher ground). i've tried several times to buy and maintain a potted tree, but each time the tree has eventually died. i'm looking forward to one day having a garden.
• I remember trying a potted tree at home and replanting it, but it died. We bought a farmed tree for the first time this year, and when Christmas is over we'll take it to the green-waste recycling plant, where they'll turn it into mulch and sell it. I had a minor crisis of conscience over it, but my desire to give our kids the full-on Christmas experience won out. Maybe next year I'll get a fake tree. This year's tree smells bloody fantastic, though. You come home from somewhere, open the back door and the house reeks of Christmas.
• We've done real trees in a root ball and had them grow to twenty footers. The trick is to slowly move them in to the house--we put ours in our unheated garage--not to have them in the house a long time--four or five days at the most is all we keep them inside, and keep them in an unheated room or somewhere as cool as possible. Don't overload the branches with "crap" and keep the tree moist, but not wet. Move them out to the unheated garage during mid-day so that they can acclimate and cool down to night time temps gradually. Keep them in the garage, moisten them occasionally, and put them out in the spring when the danger of most frosts have passed--cover with a sheet if there's going to be a fluke late frost. Most do ok, some hang on a bit then croak, sometimes they don't make it. This year we aren't having a tree 'cause the grandkiddies aren't going to be here. I'll be happy if I can just clean my house, get up all the dog hair, and put the Christmas cards on the book shelf to look at.
• I just want to dig this old thread up from the muddy banks of the river MoFi to announce to one and all that my tree this year is $#@!ing gorgeous!