Cut Your Own Christmas Tree in Fairfield County (Greenwich, Easton: buying, college)
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I may be mistaken but don't most tree farms plant one tree for every tree they cut?
I may be wrong but I thought I heard that most farms do that.
That could be , and would be smart, but Firs, Spruces and Evergreens take forever to grow so even if they started using that concept the first year in business they would have to wait many years to sell that tree.
They need to have inventory for 5 years at first.
I would love to hear from a farmer regarding this. I assume if they have the land they'll just look at their numbers and plant accordingly.
Also keep in mind...some dead trees go to mills to create paper, construction material, ect.
I think a tree farm is a much cleaner alternative than developing the land and building homes. We always go to Jones Tree farm in Shelton, and you see baby and young trees alongside more mature trees. They've owned the farm for decades. I don't really feel too bad about cutting the trees down, because that's exactly why they were planted there in the first place.
Thats another pet peev of mine...people who take down trees and dont plant new ones!! I understand trees dont last forever and they are a hazard after time but at least plant a new one... Had a few neighbors who took down 5 mature trees on their property, did not plant news ones....their house looks like Florida now...
So I agree with your statement regarding it being a waste just for show for a 4-5 week period in your house, but your willing to kill a life instead of a tree?? Interesting. There's that "hunter" mind thing I was talking about.
Thing is theres a huge difference between a tree & an animal.
As I said, deer are prey species regardless of human activity. Their role in nature is to eat & be eaten. I am not necessarily happy to kill one, I just admit it needs to die to be eaten. I am proud & get a thrill out of managing to take them on their own terms in the wild, rather than just buying a chunk of meat at the store. Perhaps you can ignore the fact that animals die to feed your family but that really does not make it different.
Trees on the other hand feed animals for generations, they also provide homes to literally hundreds of animals, birds & insects but, in this case, provide nothing we need to survive. Theyre taken just for vanity, nothing more.
When I kill a deer I kill one animal & eat it, I use it, not to decorate my house. Rather I'm useing it as nature intended. Nothing else in the woods is worse off because of my deed & some actually benefit because I return whatever I dont use to the woods for nature to work its wonders on.
Its true, as you said in your other post, that a small percentage of the trees are recycled or burned for energy, but those uses really give nothing back to the ecosystem the tree was removed from. The effect on nature is the same as if it just disappeared, worse really if we burn it.
I think a tree farm is a much cleaner alternative than developing the land and building homes. We always go to Jones Tree farm in Shelton, and you see baby and young trees alongside more mature trees. They've owned the farm for decades. I don't really feel too bad about cutting the trees down, because that's exactly why they were planted there in the first place.
I do agree that the farm is better than a development by far. I guess I'm glad enough people buy them to keep the farms operational. On another note they also offer good opportunities for hunting properties. Most all farms welcome hunters to one extent or another. I dont hunt any in CT but have & still do in several other states.
At any rate all I was trying to do was create some awareness that careing about nature goes far beyond getting the warm fuzzy's when you see a deer.
Deer vs. tree discussion aside, we've gone to Maple Row Tree Farm the past couple of years. It's a hair under $60, and you cut your own from a massive selection. I much prefer this because then you get to see how it looks all open, instead of opening the tree for 10 seconds and hoping that's what it will stay like. If you're going to have something in your home for a month, you might as well enjoy it. And, I'm supporting a local business instead of Home Cheapo.
Besides Maple Row and Silverman's, there are a few other farms in that area of Easton - Ganim's and a couple of others I can't remember.
I have cut my own Christmas tree in Fairfield County for years but I didn't start paying attention to prices until I moved out on my own about 2 years ago. Last year I paid $40 to cut my own tree at the Westport Audobon Society farm. This year I saw an article that prices are now $60 at the Westport location. I checked the Jones Tree Farm website and they also charge $60 for any "cut your own tree" between 3' and 10'. However, if I pick up a pre-cut tree at Stamford High School it's $40 and at Whole Foods it's $50.
Does anyone know if there is any tree farm that charges less than $60 per "cut your own tree" in Fairfield County? Silverman's trees may be cheaper but they only allow pre-cut trees to be sold. It seems illogical that you would have to pay more money for a tree when you are doing the grunt work yourself.
Seriously? You live in Greenwich...quit squabbeling and pay an extra $20 to keep a local farm in business. Walmart "I can get THIS one for $12 instead of $15 when the real price SHOULD be $30" mentality is what's killing our nation and fueling our need for cheap chinese crap.
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Originally Posted by Cambium
Ohhh, myy, G....
And yet you kill a walking, breathing, living Deer with a mind and a heart?
It's called conservation, something you obviously don't know much about since your move up to the "country" from the "big city". Trees are detrimental to the eco system, a deer feeds off that eco system and too many can stress it and cause worse damage. Deer have lost their natural predators. Thus they can overpopulation easily and succumb to disease, starvation, and destroy the very eco system that supports them while depriving other "cute furry mamals that talk" of their food as well.
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Originally Posted by andthentherewere3
After Christmas we throw our tree into the woods, where it provides shelter for birds. Even a dead tree will do that before it completely decomposes. I know a lot of people that do that, but of course it helps if you have a large wooded yard where there is plenty of room to do that. I'm curious about your bolded statement, though. What difference does it make by you buying a tree aready cut vs. cutting one down yourself? By buying one pre-cut, you are creating demand, and the sellers buy enough trees to meet that demand.
There are some local farms that will ball the tree for you so you can plant it after Christmas. I've been tempted. I figure in 5-10 I'll have a nice little stand of pine on the rear of my property.
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Originally Posted by Cambium
Point proven. Self satisfaction.
Next time you go to the fridge with a grumbling tummy. Stop, turn around go sit on the sofa and come back to CD and tell everyone how you are denying yourself satisfaction. See how long that lasts.
Seriously? You live in Greenwich...quit squabbeling and pay an extra $20 to keep a local farm in business. Walmart "I can get THIS one for $12 instead of $15 when the real price SHOULD be $30" mentality is what's killing our nation and fueling our need for cheap chinese crap.
You can't say just because someone *might* be well off, that they should pay more than they have to because they can. That reminds me of an issue between two friends in college - one housemate expected the other to pay more in rent because they had a higher income. It doesn't work that way.
Times are tough, and everyone should look for the deals - including the rich.
After Christmas we throw our tree into the woods, where it provides shelter for birds. Even a dead tree will do that before it completely decomposes. I know a lot of people that do that, but of course it helps if you have a large wooded yard where there is plenty of room to do that.
I toss mine in the woods too.
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I'm curious about your bolded statement, though. What difference does it make by you buying a tree aready cut vs. cutting one down yourself? By buying one pre-cut, you are creating demand, and the sellers buy enough trees to meet that demand.
I guess you could look at it that way. Thing is I know they'll be cutting more than they need & waste of this nature bothers me, so I'd rather not cut another when I can buy one already cut.
I recognize the feeling of satisfaction of cutting your own. Its a feeling I get from many of the things I do, from growing my own vegetables, to cutting & splitting my own firewood, to gathering my own meat. But as I said, the wastefulness bothers me enough to negate the satisfaction in this case.
I wouldn't hunt if they trucked in truckloads of venison & let it rot if nobody bought it either. But thats my personal ethics on the matter.
You seem to have given it some thought and made a very good point about supply & demand. You do it your way & I'll do it mine, plenty of room for both.
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