Mommy, What Do Seedlings Need In Order To Grow Into Christmas Trees? They Need Sunshine and Rain, Dear!
They said it was going to snow this weekend and it is now Monday morning and it it is finally coming down in an amount that looks like it could stay. Friends and family in Alberta and Saskatchewan certainly got their share this weekend with more snow falling in some areas than they got all winter last year. Hopefully this will inspire me to get out and put up my Christmas lights as the the season is upon us, the ads are running, parades are happening and good old Santa Clause is sharpening his pencil.
One of my favourite traditions of Christmas is the selection, harvest and setting up of my Christmas Tree. I prefer to get my tree from a locally grown tree farm and because of the number and weight of the ornaments that I have collected and cherish I have certain requirements that the tree must have.
There are many types of trees that are grown for the Christmas Season. In North America alone 25 to 30 million Christmas Trees alone are sold in country and another 10 to 15 million exported.
In Europe, Denmark sells and exports even more than that. A great number of people go out to the woods to harvest a Christmas Tree and even more set up artificial trees in their homes. It is a huge tradition around the world and long before Christianity evergreen boughs were used as decoration during the Winter Solstice that is coming up December 21st. This was done to keep away Witches, Ghosts, Evil Spirits and Illness.
For the Egyptians it was a symbol of Life over Death and for the Romans it was a symbol of rebirth of farms and orchards, for the Early Celts it was a sign of everlasting life and for the Vikings it was to honour their Sun God, Balder.
In the 16h century the idea of bringing in a tree into the house and decorating it became widespread in Germany and in the 1700’s they brought these traditions to North America although it was thought to be a Pagan practice.
In 1848 Queen Vitoria, a much beloved queen in England and around the world, put up a decorated tree for her children and it became a European and North American tradition. Trees then were decorated with berries, nuts, apples, berries, and popcorn dyed in various colours. Soon beautiful glass ornaments were being made.
Tinsel was made from strips of beaten silver but rumoured to have been made by a spider to decorate a poor family’s tree and then the webs were turned to Silver and Gold by St. Nicholas, Father Christmas or Santa Claus as we all know and love him.
The first lights were believed to have been placed on trees by Martin Luther a Protestant preacher. These original lights were candles and this led to many disasters including the 1885 burning down of a Chicago Hospital. In 1917 an enterprising young man invented the electric Christmas light company, the infamous Noma Electric Company and this has now become another Christmas Tradition.
Your Christmas Tree should be placed where it can be seen from outside, where it can be seen while dining or relaxing with family and friends. Keep it away from sources of heat like radiators, baseboards and stoves. Be sure to shake it well before bringing it into your home to dislodge dead needles, spiders, mites or ticks.
When you bring it home from either a tree farm, the woods or a store be sure to re-cut the bottom and if you are not putting it up directly be sure to keep the cut end in a bucket of water. You can also increase the life of your tree by the use of some corn syrup in the water as well as a bit of bleach to kill bacteria that will lessen the life of your tree. Use 1 gallon of water with a half cup of corn syrup and 4 tsps of bleach and keep plenty on hand as the worst thing you can do is let the tree base run dry.
Happy Gardening!
Samantha Nason
BS Ranch & Greenhouses
250 547 6567
sam1nason@gmail.com
