I sat down with our tree expert (John Reed, who you'd recognize immediately by his huge hat if he'd let me take a picture of him) to get the skinny on Behnke's trees and greens, and how to take care of them.   Fortunately he was plenty forthcoming with information.

John credits Miri Talabac with buying our trees - both cut and live, and  in several species. After delivery, John makes sure the cut trees are all mounted on stands so that customers can see all sides, and also makes sure they're all hosed down several times a day to keep them moist. (Something not all tree-sellers do, and I'm thinking he's thinking of the big national chains.)

Care of cut trees
There are only two important points to care of Christmas trees, and the first is giving them a fresh cut.  Taking off  just 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch is important for getting water flowing up into the tree, but no problemo - Behnkes will do that for you!  So your only job is to keep water in their container.  Pretty easy.  You can also add some sugar or a product like Prolong to help the tree last its longest.  I asked if he advised buying trees as soon as they're available or is it okay to wait until I get around to it later in December and his answer makes sense given what he'd just told me:  It doesn't matter IF the people you buy it from have  kept the trees moist and out of the sun (like he does). 

This week was sprinkled with a little more Christmas cheer as everyone in the family is into the Christmas spirit.  We have picked our Christmas trees and they are up - brightly adorned with sparkling lights and a mish-mash of all of our lifetime's worth of ornaments.  My favorite part of this year's holiday seasons is Grayson's grasp on the holiday.  As with most things this time around, this is the first year he's really comprehending the whole occasion. 
 

The tradition starts with a fresh-cut Christmas tree.  As children, we always made an evening event out of decorating the Christmas tree.  As adults, my husband Chris and I have continued these traditions in our home.  This year, with the farmhouse still under renovation, there is no room for a Christmas tree there.  So, we brought the tradition back over to my parent's house.  As tradition dictates, we enjoyed cookies and eggnog, while listening to Christmas carols as the ornaments slowly made it up onto the tree one by one. 
 

Grayson's attention span for tree trimming in years past has been close to non-existent.  But this year, after seeing the tree at his other grandparent's home, he was excited and anticipating decorating a tree at my parent's house.  He eagerly darted between the boxes of ornaments and the tree carefully placing each ornament and stepping back to admire his work.  At the end of the event, he managed to decorate four small branches with about fifteen glass balls.  Needless to say, as imperfect as they appear, no one will move them.  We all silently agreed that they look perfect just as they are.
 

Interestingly enough, I still had a project lingering from my Summer garden.  I had started a batch of fermented hot sauce about six weeks ago from the last of the hot peppers.  After watching it regularly over the weeks to check its progress, it appeared to have completed its process.  The peppers were transferred to a wire mesh sieve, ground with a wooden spoon to remove skins and seeds, and then bottled with the appropriate amount of rice wine vinegar.  Although this batch only made two jars, I am content.  We don't use a tremendous amount in general and I am just happy to have conquered my first fermentation project; small yield or not.