Trees go home for the holidays

On holiday trees. 

1. A typical tree can take from 8-12 years to go from seed cone to tree stand.
2. The largest tree operations harvest a million trees/yr. Smaller ones about 30,000.
3. Seedlings are produced by large forestry company’s transplanted several times. 
4. Blue Spruce is a popular variety, and Firs are now sourced in Turkey and Korea. 
5. Organic tree farms are rare. Growers typically use pesticides. 

source: NY Times, Dec. 6, 2012.