{"id":2080,"date":"2010-11-30T14:49:50","date_gmt":"2010-11-30T14:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=2080"},"modified":"2012-10-18T14:52:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-18T14:52:30","slug":"tis-the-season-to-buy-a-fresh-real-maryland-christmas-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2010\/11\/30\/tis-the-season-to-buy-a-fresh-real-maryland-christmas-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"“Tis the Season” to Buy a Fresh, Real Maryland Christmas Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celebrate 500th Anniversary of the Christmas Tree, Enter to Win Trip to Latvia<\/em> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD (Nov. 30, 2010) \u2013 Did you know that the tradition of decorating trees for Christmas is said to have started 500 years ago in Latvia?\u00a0 This holiday season, why not start a new family tradition by displaying a fresh, real Christmas tree grown by a Maryland farmer in your home this holiday season?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis weekend, I am taking my family to cut our own Christmas tree at a Carroll County farm,\u201d said Governor Martin O\u2019Malley. \u201cWe enjoyed the experience so much last year we wanted to continue the tradition. Plus, buying locally benefits our economy, the environment and keeps Maryland smart, green and growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaryland farmers work year-round to provide customers with high-quality, fresh, fragrant Christmas trees for the holiday season,\u201d said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance.\u00a0 \u201cBuying locally supports our local economy and gives consumers an opportunity to experience a delightful time of year on the farm.\u201d Like other farmers who produce a variety of the finest, fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy products anywhere, Maryland tree farmers also raise Christmas trees as crops \u2013 with one big difference: it takes eight to 14 years to grow a living-room sized tree.<\/p>\n

Maryland farmers offer some of the freshest Christmas trees available, which come in several unique varieties.\u00a0 While the Fraser Fir is a popular choice, there are many additional varieties grown throughout the state. Tree varieties grown in Maryland include:\u00a0 Douglas Fir, Concolor Fir, Canaan Fir, Scotch Pine, White Pine, and Blue Spruce.<\/p>\n

Most experts agree that using a real versus a fake Christmas tree as a holiday centerpiece is an overall best \u201cgreen\u201d choice for the environment and the local economy. While they’re growing, real Christmas trees absorb carbon dioxide and other gases and emit fresh oxygen, unlike artificial trees which are petroleum-based. When growing in open space, a 3\u201d in diameter Douglas Fir tree can reduce atmospheric carbon by 23 pounds and intercept 102 gallons of storm water runoff per year.\u00a0 Consumers who are concerned about the environmental impact of cutting their own Christmas tree should be aware that it is common practice for Maryland Christmas tree growers to plant three new trees for each one cut down. Used trees can be recycled in a variety of ways, including local government programs to chip Christmas trees into mulch that returns valuable nutrients to the soil.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it may appear that tree farming is a seasonal business, growers spend the entire year working their farms,\u201d said Wilma Muir, president of the 100-member Maryland Christmas Tree Association (MCTA).\u00a0 \u201cTree planting, shearing and mowing can take up to 65 hours a week, 52 weeks a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best way to guarantee that a Christmas tree is fresh and stays fresh is to cut or buy your tree at one of Maryland\u2019s Best tree retail locations. You want a tree with needles that bend rather than break. Then an inch or so should immediately be cut off the bottom and the tree placed in large water-holding stand. The tree should be watered daily. If the stand runs out of water, the tree will seal itself up, unable to absorb more moisture.<\/p>\n

Visiting a local farm to find the perfect Christmas tree is a great activity for families and a fun way to spend an afternoon. The Maryland Christmas Tree Association (MCTA) and the City of Riga, Latvia, are running a joint promotion to draw attention to the tradition and to local Christmas tree farms.\u00a0 By purchasing a fresh tree from an MCTA member farm, one can enter to win a trip to Latvia along the Baltic Sea. Visit www.marylandchristmastrees.org<\/a> for details. Many Maryland farms have additional tourism opportunities as well, such as sleigh rides and visits with Santa.<\/p>\n

According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture for Maryland, there are over 200 tree growers in the state with nearly 3,000 acres in Christmas tree production.<\/p>\n

To find more information on the seasonal bounty offered by Maryland\u2019s farms, as well as a listing of local Christmas tree farms, visit www.MarylandsBest.net<\/a>. For environmental benefits and the top 10 Myths vs. Facts about Christmas Trees, visit: www.christmastree.org\/myths.cfm<\/a>. To learn more about how to care for your farm-grown fresh Christmas tree, or about Christmas tree varieties grown in Maryland, visit: www.marylandchristmastrees.org\/treevarieties.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Follow MDA on Twitter@MdAgDept<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celebrate 500th Anniversary of the Christmas Tree, Enter to Win Trip to Latvia ANNAPOLIS, MD (Nov. 30, 2010) \u2013 Did you know that the tradition of decorating trees for Christmas is said to have started 500 years ago in Latvia?\u00a0 This holiday season, why not start a new family tradition by displaying a fresh, real  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2081,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080\/revisions\/2081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}