It's tree time again!

Thanksgiving is the earliest it can be on the calendar this year (Nov 22) so we're already at "tree time." We thought we'd share a few tidbits from the autumn before many tree lots and tree farms open up on Friday. Interesting email question from October, with my reply in GREEN.

From: Alyssabeth
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 4:13 AM
To: NCTA-Rick Dungey
Subject: Fake Tree Hazard

Hello,

My name is Alyssabeth.  This is my daughter first Christmas and she will be 9 months old.  We bought a fake tree a few years back before we had any kiddos.

My concern is I went online to find out about Christmas tree safety for the little ones only to find out that most fake trees contain lead. And so do Christmas lights. I am now freaking out and ready to toss my tree and all the lights into the trash. I don't know if i should because my Christmas tree box box and such say nothing about containing lead. I am worried. My tree is from China I purchased it at a retail store called Wal-Mart. Its a 6.5 foot Jackson Spruce Model Number : M-P70501.

Basically i want to know if i should worry or what i should do. About Christmas lights as well. 

Please tell me you can help me out here with advice and such.  Thank you for your time and consideration

Here’s some of the information we have gathered about the plastic, tree-shaped decorations.  http://realchristmastrees.org/dnn/Education/FakeTrees.aspx

The one thing I can guarantee is that a fresh, farm-grown Christmas Tree is a plant, and therefore does NOT contain lead.

Here are some other things going on as we head into the harvest and sales season.

Trees for Troops kicked off it's 8th year this week with the shipment of trees bound for troops deployed overseas.  Read about it here Trees for Troops Facebook Page

The White House Christmas Tree will be delivered and presented on Friday, November 23.  Look for great stories about the tree and this year's Grand Champion farm presenting the tree, Peak Farms from Jefferson, NC.  The Estes family are the owners.  Great people and a great story.

The NCTA web site got an overhaul this year, both aesthetically and programming-wise.  The "tree locator" has a new functionality based on a map generator, rather than just a list generator.  Check it out.  www.realchristmastrees.org

It won't be long now before we start getting lots of email questions about trees ...how to pick one, how to care for one, how to recycle one.  You can browse old blog entries to see some of the more common questions we get and the answers to see if the answer to your question can be found.  Of course, you are always welcome to send us an email anyway.  We'll be happy to answer it.

Happy Thanksgiving!