Christmas Trees, Where Do They Come From? revisited 11/22/08

Earlier this week we were driving to see our daughter who lives "out in the country" about 15 miles west of us. I heard a helicopter as we travelled Highway 26 towards Manning. I slowed down and we saw it in the distance carrying a load from a cable suspended beneath it.

As we got closer we could see that it was ferrying bundles of Christmas trees.

They were being transported from a remote area of a tree farm where the trees were being cut, down to a work station where they were unloaded and put through a machine which enclosed them in a netting.

They were then being bundled for shipment.

We drove up a small country road to get closer and could see the tree farm.

We hoped to get a closer look but it was 3:00 and the workers shut down the operation on the dot. Typically it takes 8-10 years for this type of tree to reach harvesting size. So, if you buy a tree this year, you now have an idea of where it may have come from. In the Saturday Oregonian newspaper they had an article with these pictures describing the Christmas tree being placed in Pioneer Square, a public gathering place in downtown Portland.

That tree is 75 feet tall, weighs 7,500 pounds, and took 34 years to reach that size. Someone rightfully commented that they should plant a tree there and stop cutting one of these giants every year to put there, decorate, and watch it dry up.

pictures from The Oregonian website

We went to town a few days later and saw the tree still "under construction"

They are attaching braces and mounting brackets on additional branches.

These are then bolted onto the trunk to make the tree appear fuller.

As soon as the "construction" is competed they will add the lights and ornaments to the tree. Hope to get some more pictures then.