Resins to be Cheerful

There are regular bulletins and Stock Market Reports on the state of the current and pending cultivation and production levels of the main staple cereals, banana's. the citrus crops, rice and beans as well as tea, coffee and soya. This is understandable given that  these are the main exports and foodstuffs on which a good proportion of the global population and their national economies rely on.

Other raw materials are similarly studied and speculated about from minerals and ores to precious metals.

As far as I have been able to research there is no such system about Christmas Trees and that, for just one day in the year (today as it happens in our household) brings one of the most critical consumer decisions that we encounter in our otherwise comfortable first world existence.

What is the availability of a natural tree?

How much will it cost? and

What will they be like in terms of key requirements of being green, bushy and with a pine odour that will last for all of the Festive period?

These are just three concerns in the run up to the journey out to a rural farm beyond our residence in the city for the express purchase of a tree.

Of course it has been a freakish year for climatic conditions with a very wet Spring, a record breaking run of extremely high summer temperatures and drought and an iffy autumn with alternate balmy and sub-arctic weather on a daily basis.

How have the traditional growing regions in the UK fared in such a variable climate?

My only gauge of the welfare of Christmas Trees has been from a regular pass-by in the car of a small business just outside York in East Yorkshire, UK.

Caught frequently at a traffic light controlled junction I have kept an eye on the growth and number of the contents of a field of commercially grown pine trees.

That is for sure a long term business model involving phased planting and harvesting for a sustainable income. There must have been quite a few years at the beginning of that operation when revenue from the trees was zero and so the family run company relied upon a core business of landscape gardening to keep them going until the crop of trees reached maturity.

From my stationary position awaiting the green light signal I have, on an all year round basis, had the impression of spurts of vertical growth and intermittent tending and nurturing of the trees although in reality I have been party to somewhat of a time-lapse sequence over many months on that same route.

What has thrown me in recent weeks however has been the systematic emptying of the stock of firs and pines in that very familiar setting.

This is to be expected as we approach Christmas but in previous years any gaps in the rows have been seen to be filled by fresh saplings in that rolling process to establish successive production.

This thinning out process was explained by the appearance on the road verge of a "For Sale" sign for the business, lock, stock and barrel or rather family house, outbuildings, land and an inventory of machines and equipment.

I have, of course, no knowledge of the motivation behind the decision to sell, whether it was time to cash in after many years of hard work, out of ill health, trading difficulties, matrimonial or other family issues.

Perhaps the market for real Christmas Tress is failing in the face of strong competition from artificial trees.

The economics are clear enough in that forking out say, £120 for a high tech man made tree against around £60 for a real one means that going plastic pays for itself within 2 years.

Add to that the avoidance of fallen pine needles and disposal costs at end of season and a self assembly tree in a box makes sound financial sense.

A further factor is that recently built houses are tending to get smaller and dare I say it, their owners thereby forced to be a bit more minimalist when it comes to considering what type of Christmas Tree to have.

I have not even touched on the subjects of ecology and sustainable forestry.

Commercial growers of pines and firs for the seasonal demand will operate on an eco-friendly basis but there are obvious issues over the fact that those trees available to the market are un-rooted and therefore of single use.

I have not yet seen a campaign to discourage consumers from buying on this sustainable argument although Activists may already be through the chain link fence and liberating as many Scots and Nordmans as possible whilst I write.

I need not have fretted over the imponderables at play in the Christmas Tree business sector.

The shed on the out of city farmstead was bursting to its portal frame with very green trees of all sizes, heights and profiles. It must, after all, have been a very good growing year.

We had a good selection and the third tree twizzled on its stump met all of our hopes and expectations.

In the car on the way home that glorious pine odour from my sticky palms on the steering wheel  gave me the Christmas Spirit.