We haven't bothered with a natural Christmas tree since the kids were babies. Back then it was a big deal to load everyone up and head to a local tree farm to slay that perfect specimen. But after a nearly twenty year hiatus with an artificial tree, the time has come to venture out to Smithsburg and bring back a local fir for the homestead. It also gave the Number One Daughter a chance to dirty up her tires and haul an actual agricultural load in her new pick up truck.
While modern LED light strings are both energy efficient and much safer to use on live trees, I pulled out my old tree juice recipe. It was from a newspaper clipping from way back in the early 1990s.
First, cut a live tree so you know exactly how old it is and where it came from. Go ahead and have it bailed, and as soon as you get home, stick it in a five gallon bucket with a solution containing the following ingredients (mixed well):
2 gallons of hot water
1 pint of clear corn syrup (any brand will do)
4 oz of liquid bleach
2 oz of apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp of borax powder
2 oz of liquid Woolite laundry soap
Store your tree in a protected spot out of direct sun (back patio, un-heated garage, etc.) for four to five days. It's best not to allow the bucket to freeze tight, but an overnight glaze of ice on the surface is fine. As long as the stump remains submerged in the solution.
On the day you plan to bring it inside, first cut off an inch or so of the stump to expose a fresh surface that hasn't sealed over with pitch. Then un-bail the tree and do whatever lower branch trimming is needed to fit it in your tree stand. This is also a good time to trim away rough areas and give the tree one last shake to remove loose needles and dormant critters. If you plan to keep the tree inside for more than two weeks, you also may want to spray it with an anti-desiccant like Bonide Wilt Stop. But you'll need to allow it to dry completely before moving inside. And the anti-desiccant will decrease that wonderful Christmas tree smell that is the main reason for going with a natural tree in the first place.
Once inside and in its final location, be sure to add fresh tree juice to the stand. And never let the juice level drop below the surface of the cut. If all goes to plan, the original two gallon batch should provide enough juice to get you through a two week celebration. But be ready to whip up another smaller batch (decreasing the ingredients proportionally). Or if you find yourself running out of juice with only a few days left until New Years Day, plain water is fine. Just never let the stand dry out to the point where the stump is not immersed in some kind of fluid.
Growing up in Virginia in the 1960s-70s we always put our live tree up on Christmas Eve and took it down on New Year's Day. But today people put up trees way too early. We can only hope they are using artificial trees or otherwise being very careful against fire.
Over the years we've struggled with all sorts of plastic tree stands, but this steel model is the best by far. It's beefy, and has a spike in the bottom to keep the stump from lateral movements once the four screw pins are tight. It also holds about a half gallon of tree juice.
And the final product!!! Merry Christmas!
