Comments

1

FUCK!!! The Dunshee House lot is closed? I've been buying my tree there for the last 15 years...at least. Expensive, yes. But the trees were fresh and the money went to a good cause. I don't know where else to go for a tree.

2

Did you even try to get a quote from an environmentalist about the impacts of Christmas-tree farming? The environment doesn't stop at "carbon-neutral," after all; what's the skinny here on water consumption, crop monoculture ecology, total acreage under cultivation, erosion, all that good stuff?

I'm happy to listen to what the farmers have to say, but come on. Surely there has to be another side to this practice of hauling millions of dead conifer saplings into our homes every year.

3

We used to get 5$ trees at Chubby and Tubby on Aurora back in the day. Then when I moved to Chicago for grad school I bought an artificial tree at the drug store because live trees were crazy expensive there and I was still poor. 30 odd years later Mr. Presto Pine still lights up the corner even if he's a little lopsided and kind of confused looking.

4

pro tip fake trees at goodwill, we got a $400+ faker for about $35 last year its sweet! never going back.

5

Do farmed trees get watered during the dry season? How much water goes into a tree by the time you buy it?

@3 Chubby and Tubby yasss I bought some random shit every time I walked by.

6

I snagged an 8' beauty at Swansons. Took 5 minutes. Cost $200, but it was money well spent considering my time and its quality.

7

Or, one might buy the tree at a 'farm' -- including the roots! -- and plant the damn thing when Xmas blows over. Tell the kiddies the beautifully-wrapped root ball is their Present, and really Suprise them on Xmas!

(Back-up gifts are fine, too.)

8

@7: My parents did that when we were kids! It was fun planting them after New Year but they often had trouble taking root.

9

@6: Jesus that's a lot of money! I had no idea! I bought Mr. Presto Pine because I thought 50$ for a tree was too much.
He languished in storage during my Trophy Wife Years as my ex husband wanted a grand statement of a live tree for the holidays, but I never knew how much he spent on them. Wow!

10

Yikes! I"m used to picking up trees at Top Banana in Ballard for around $60. I was going to wait until next week, which I guess means they'll either be gone completely or over $100 for something half-way decent.

11

You can also still head onto National Forest land and slay your own. The permits are only $5 or $10 depending on which forest you go to.

(Some of the lumber companies used to allow individuals to get a cheap or free Christmas Tree off their land, but they're pretty much all Weyerhaeuser now and a quick web search at least doesn't seem to show whether they still let you do that or not.)

12

I bought our 8' Evergleam aluminum tree (with motorized base and three color wheels) at a weird thrift store up in Greenwood about 25 years ago. I think the whole thing cost me $60, which was a lot of dough in those days. I haven't had a real tree since then.

13

Aw c'mon, half the joy of getting a tree is the smell. So cool to bring a large, recently-living, organic thing inside your house.
Not to mention the life-affirming anxiety you feel every time you leave the house with it lit up- will I return to find it turned into a giant incendiary device and fire engines surrounding my house?

14

6' Noble Fir fresh from the Alpine Meadows tree farm in Acme for $55.

15

Living trees sequester carbon, yes, but that carbon is released into the atmosphere when they are cut down! So I don't understand this claim about buying cut trees helping the environment!

The UW Forestry Department used to sell trees every year for much cheaper prices than you can buy them from stores and tree lots. You put in your order and pay in November and they had the trees for pick up at the beginning of December, so it's probably too late this year. But try asking about it next year to see if they're still doing it.

16

If you can afford it and are able to, please get a living tree and plant it after the holidays.

17

@16 -- Already in the pot?!
I gotta get Out more.


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