I was thinking about darkangel's post on the cutting down of trees for Christmas...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018244543

And these thoughts came to my mind:

I understand what she's saying about what a waste to cut a tree down just so we can decorate it for a short time, and then discard it. It does seem wasteful.

But we waste far more on food we throw away because it's spoiled or some such. And the food was grown to be eaten.


The Christmas tree does nourish us...not our bodies, but our souls and minds. It brings a bit of magic to us.

We have them in our homes, and we see them in various venues where we go, and they are beautiful, magical. They can lift our spirits. They can inspire us, because beauty does that.

Children see them and they see the magic too. It can help them see our world as a place that can be lovely, and that can help them grow spiritually or emotionally...

Their beauty is brief but it endures inside us. It can lift us out of our ordinary lives. And who doesn't need that?


Peace out...

[ohiosmith]

1. Nice post CP.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I thank you, my dear ohiosmith!

[Kali]

3. they smell good

I "compromise." We cut some branches of a couple of different juniper trees and tie them together with baling wire to make a more-or-less x-mas tree shape. After I take them down the dry stems make good kindling.

you make a good point about nourishing more than just the body, plus they are generally an ag product and even when harvested from the wild, they are a renewable natural resource.

I have much less problem with cutting x-mas trees than I do with the sorts of activities associated with black friday or FFS! shopping on Thanksgiving.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. They do smell good! And I like your compromise...

I hear you about the shopping!

[Baitball Blogger]

4. The first year or two I got live trees and tried to plant them

in the garden. Northern trees don't do so well in Florida soil.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. That's too bad, my dear Baitball Blogger...

They do need a certain climate, and Florida is tropical.

[Tanuki]

11. I bet you would have better luck with a Norfolk Island pine!

http://www.floridata.com/ref/a/arau_het.cfm

[Baitball Blogger]

12. Probably. But, we moved since then and I don't see many live tree sales in Central Florida.

[Tanuki]

13. You can get one at Lowes hardware stores or similar places

http://www.lowes.com/pd_94599-1513-NURSERY_0__?productId=3551882

I have only ever had one as a house plant as I have never lived in the right climate to grow one outside, but they are beautiful and easy to grow.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. Thanks. The next prob:

I have so many trees already, that the entire lot is shaded.

[WCGreen]

5. Most of the trees come from Christmas Tree farms....

My uncle raised trees for 20 years in the hills of Western PA. It took about 6-8 years to grow them to a point when they were viable...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. I know they do, and I think that's a good way to do it.

I didn't realize it took that long. I guess I never really thought about it...

Good for your uncle.

[lumpy]

9. Love your post, Peggy.

You make sense out of silly dialogue.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Thank you, my dear lumpy!

I appreciate it.

[Spike89]

15. Xmas trees = flowers

Actually, most Christmas trees grow quite well without any fertilizer or insect control (at least here in the Northwest where it is a huge business). Additionally, Christmas tree farms are almost always either recovering farmland or acreage that isn't real good for other "useful" crops.

BTW - It might take 8 years in PA, but in Oregon, if we plant our Christmas tree any earlier than Thanksgiving, it will grow to be too big to fit in the house by Christmas!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. That's some fast growing you have there!

Thanks for stopping by, my dear Spike89!