Christmas Tree Growers Busy Year round

Christmas Tree Growers Busy Year round

Maura Bennett
Maura Bennett

With Thanksgiving 2019 in the books, it’s officially Christmas season and Christmas tree season to be more specific.

Over the next 4 weeks millions of trees will be decorated with lights and ornaments according to family traditions.

Melissa Ploeckelman of the National Farm Medicine Center tells USDA news service Christmas tree growers have been working all year long over many seasons to deliver the trees that add good cheer and meaning to the season.

The American Tree Farm System estimates 74, 000 tree farmers in their system alone managing over 20 million acres of forest. There are thousands more represented in the National Christmas Tree Association.

There are close to 350 million real Christmas Trees currently growing on Christmas Tree farms in the U.S. all planted by farmers.

There are approximately 25-30 million fresh cut Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year.

Most Christmas tree farms open on the Friday right after Thanksgiving (Black Friday, Nov 29, 2019) and are open up to Christmas Eve.Some are only open on weekends, or only have hayrides, Santa visits and events on weekends

Read more at http://www.pickyourownchristmastree.org/CAxmastrees.php#wsld2Wb7UullGK44.99

Some tips from the pros: The tree association recommends running a branch through your enclosed hand. If the needles easily come off, consider avoiding the tree. You should also bend the outer branches. If they're not pliable, also consider avoiding that tree. And if the branches are brittle or snap easily, the tree is probably too dry.

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