What are your all thoughts on Christmas Trees?  Plastic versus real?

Plastic trees will last a very long time, while a real tree supports a local business (for us, it supports Lotti’s Tree Farm, or a church that is selling trees as a fundraiser).  Crunchy Chicken wrote about the tree farmers and whether or not they use organic means.  It is definitely something to look into, and I will be sure to ask when we go pick out a tree this year.

I was beginning to think about how awful it is that we use a tree for a month (at the longest), and then we simply put it outside to be picked up like garbage.  But then I remembered that is what we do with flowers, and they last for a lot less time.  And when was the last time you saw a plastic Jack-O-Lantern sitting on someone’s porch, or being sold in stores?  And I don’t mean the plastic buckets that hold candy.

It is a long honored tradition to grow things, use them for decorative needs, and then discard them.  Our Jack-O-Lantern is sitting out in our garden, where it will be squirrel food, and eventually compost.  All flowers we buy also go into the compost.

Some people even decorate with pussy willows and reed mace.

I’ve also heard about a lot of people buy potted trees that they then plant in their yard.  I know Trader Joe’s sells them. Megan had expressed interest in doing that, but she believes that she can’t have the tree indoors.  My mom said she did that when she was younger, and that tree is still in her home town to this day.

We always get a real tree at the ole’ homestead, and even in my two apartments, we got two very small trees (the tree got bigger as the apartment got bigger).  I like going to get a tree, and I’m always very picky when picking it out.  My parents know not to get one without me.  I also like the way a real tree smells.  My mom has been interested in a plastic tree for years, but has never purchased one.  When I have my own family and house, I’m sure I will do a real tree as well.  It’s just a tradition.