With Christmas less than a week away, a piece of nature has invaded most of our homes, mine included. When I came home the tree was lit and full of our favorite ornaments, courtesy of my sister who has been in charge of Christmas decorating for the past few years. Christmas trees have decked the halls for centuries, and the industry is still going strong.
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, it takes Christmas trees 7 years on average to grow to the typical height of 6-7 feet. The most common tree species to bring inside during the Christmas season are balsam fir, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine.
There are over 350 million Christmas trees growing in the US on approximately 15,000 farms covering 350,000 acres. The top Christmas tree producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington and the industry employs around 100,000 people.
The first written record of decorating Christmas trees comes from Latvia in 1510 and commercially selling Christmas trees began around 1850. The tradition has remained strong and today over 25-30 million real trees are sold each year.
Maybe this Christmas you will choose to support a tree farmer, or maybe you have the fortune to be able to cut one in your own backyard. Then again, maybe you value the convenience of dragging the old artificial out from under the staircase. Whatever you choose, remember the gift of everlasting life sent to us on Christmas symbolized by the evergreen tree in your living room.
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