Christmas Tree Brochures Available

The Connecticut Christmas Tree Growers Association was organized in 1960 to encourage the development of the Christmas tree industry in the state of Connecticut.

CCTGA has released its updated Pick-Your-Own Christmas Trees for the 2004 holiday season. Christmas tree farms and their contact information (including address, phone number and, when available, website) are broken down by the state’s eight counties and then listed alphabetically. It includes Foxview Farm, Longview Farm, Julia Wasserman’s Medridge Tree Farm and Paproski’s Tree Farm in Newtown.

The 102 listings also offer notations on whether a farm allows tagging and/or whether there is a Christmas shop on-site.

Freshness is most important when selecting a tree. The needles should be resilient. Take hold of a branch and pull your hand toward yourself allowing the branch to slip through your fingers.

Needles should adhere to the branch and not fall off in your hand.

Once cut, lift the tree a couple of inches off the ground, then bring it down abruptly on the stump end. Outside green needles should not falloff in substantial numbers. Inside needles, however, turn brown and shed naturally every year.

A fresh tree will retain its moisture content and thereby keep its fragrance and needles if kept in a stand that has an adequate water holding capacity.

Additionally the booklet offers Christmas tree care tips. Buyers can have, in one convenient location, information on how to take care of a live Christmas tree before it goes into the house, as it’s set up in the house, the types of stands available, and how to dispose of a tree.

Two important tips: Never burn Christmas tree branches in a fireplace (or woodstove), and remember that two to three weeks is the maximum time a tree should be kept inside a house.

Burning branches may offer a nice aroma for a few minutes, but the resulting pine sap and creosote released into the fireplace and chimney are a major fire hazard. Keeping a tree inside for more than three weeks increases the chances of a tree drying out, which also creates a fire hazard.

To obtain a copy of the 2004 Pick-Your-Own Christmas Trees brochure call CCTGA at 203-237-9400, write to CCTGA, Inc., 304 Parker Avenue, Meriden CT 06450, or visit www.CTChristmasTree.org.

The tradition of celebrating the holiday season with a real Christmas tree dates back some 500 years. Approximately 33 million American families will celebrate this holiday season with a fresh, family-grown Christmas tree.

Fresh native trees are available from more than over 100 Christmas tree farms in Connecticut. The refreshing scent of a local tree will fill the house with an unmatched fragrance and will hold its needles until the last festive day is over.

Evergreen trees symbolize everlasting life, and the aroma of a real Christmas tree evokes strong memories of family traditions and the innocence of childhood. Much like other crops, which provide food for the body, the aroma of a farm-grown Christmas tree provides food for the soul.

Usually Christmas trees begin life in a nursery where superior seed is planted and grown to two-year-old seedlings. The seedlings are then taken from the nursery beds and replanted in Christmas tree plantations.

While growing, Christmas trees provide many environmental benefits. They replenish the Earth’s oxygen supply, serve as wildlife habitat, increase soil stability and provide a valuable and aesthetically pleasing improvement to the land.

Each year the young trees are shaped or pruned. The average growing time is six to ten years for a tree to grow into a well-shaped six- to eight-foot tree, depending on species and other factors including soil and weather conditions.

Choose-and-cut farms have helped to renew the tradition of the entire family selecting and cutting the Christmas tree. The whole family can have great fun in the process of choosing a tree.

The preferred species of tree is often handed down, generation to generation. A few simple procedures can make the selection and care of a fresh, natural Christmas tree more fun and the best value for your money.