Free-range Christmas tree

We got our tree this year, as we do most years, at Mother Earth Gardens. We were delighted to find "organic free-range" trees this year. Ours was $20 for a cute 5-foot-tall tree with a skinny base.

The tag reads: Celebrate Christmas with an elegant, fragrant north woods Balsam fir, and you will be helping to protect our old-growth white pine forests from wildfire. Polar explorer Will Steger and author Jeff Forester have teamed up to offer these unique, pesticide-free trees. Northern Minnesota conifer forests are clogged with an understory of balsam fir that provide easy fuel for wildfires. By removing the smaller trees, we not only reduce fuel load but create openings for red and white pine seedlings. Proceeds from the sale of this tree will go toward replanting our native red and white pine forest.