Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Lugging Home the Tree

I’ve been wondering lately which is “greener” – the fresh or artificial tree? Not surprisingly, the Christmas Tree Growers Association made a handy chart to reassure me that one of our favorite holiday traditions wasn’t doing any major harm to the planet. (Since our compost facility collects the trees after the holiday, I can at least hope that maybe a teeny tiny part of our tree waste might end up back in the garden if I take some compost home this spring for the new beds.)

We don’t have far to go to find fresh trees around here – New York State alone has over 3,000 growers, and one of them, the Fox Ridge Christmas Tree Farm is less than an hour away.







Usually my family of 4 ends up split over which tree to buy. We brought a friend with us to break the tie this year, but he had the nerve to side with the kids. Mom and Dad wanted a blue tree (for a change!) and had no choice but to overrule the minors. One thing we did agree on was that last year’s tree was too fat. And the S. man didn’t want to have to saw anything off the top. Then there’s the problem of finding one without a bald spot on one side.





WOODSMAN!!!!!! WE NEED YOU!!



Turns out he needed Lots of Help. Good thing we were there! How many munchkins does it take to chop down a Christmas tree?


Can you believe these kids argued about who got to carry the saw for the woodsman? I didn’t realize it was such an honor.


The guys in the baling department needed lots of help, too.


Took longer to strap to the top of the car than it took to decorate.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a grand day you had! I love that you bought a real one. Mine is on the front porch and loving showing off to everyone. Your tree looks very nice and even better, the kids had a good and memorable time. Did the decorating go as well?

Lona said...

Making memories for the kiddos and the fragrance of a fresh tree cannot be bottled.

Joanne said...

Regarding which is greener - Don't the tree farms themselves benefit the environment? We recently considered purchasing an artificial tree until we saw the warning on the box stating that it contained lead, and to wash your hands every time you handle the tree! And look at the memories you made finding that tree. Good choice.

tina said...

What a fun post! Looks like you got a perfect tree and how funny is it that it takes longer to tie it to the car than decorate. Ha!

edward said...

i think a tree farm is the best idea because the fake trees are made in china where they got no rules!