Can You Eat Your Christmas Tree?
BY KEY’I MALONE — Staff Writer
This may sound crazy, but you can actually eat your Christmas tree! Not the fake ones, of course (unless you want shattered teeth and a stay at the hospital), but there are trees that you can eat. Here’s a list:
- BLUE SPRUCE
Blue spruce trees are edible, or more accurately ,the tips are. We use the tips for tea, cocktails, beer, and cookies because why not? Although I wouldn’t consider it a meal, mostly because the pine needles are extremely small and would still leave you hungry afterwards.
Fun Fact: Blue spruce trees could live up to 600–800 years.
2. EASTERN WHITE PINE
Unlike the other two on this list, white pines have no flowers, nuts, berries, or long leaves; most people go for the pine of these trees and their sap. Although their resin may cause irritation in skin, that’s mostly all it does.
Fun Fact: Their pine needles are incredibly strong; they can last up to 2 years until they fall off.
3. SUGAR PINE
Just like its name, this tree’s sap is sweet like sugar, but so is the bark of these trees!
Fun Fact: Native Americans used their sap as their own natural glue to repair canoes.