Christmas Got Your Goat?

This year it’s the other way around!  The goats “got my Christmas tree”!  A friend of mine posted on FaceBook that his goats would love old Christmas trees (They eat any kind of coniferous tree – fir, hemlock, cedar).  So we loaded up our tree, drove to his farm and fed it to his goats!

My husband hoisting the tree into the goats’ pen!

 

The hungry goats munching on the tree!

The goats were in heaven and we could hardly get the tree over the fence into their pen fast enough!

Everybody is happy!

The goats feasted on a delicious Christmas treat and we felt great about “recycling” our tree in a most unusual way!

If you don’t have access to any goats, what else can you do with your old Christmas tree? Care2.com has some good suggestions:

• The whole Christmas tree placed in the backyard makes an excellent bird feeder.  You can add suet, cranberry and popcorn strings, stale bread,etc. for tasty treats for the birds.
• Use cut off  branches to edge a garden or place whole evergreen boughs on perennial beds to protect them from winter freezes and spring thaws.  The trunk makes a perfect resting spot for birds, squirrels and other little critters.
• Check with your town about its tree recycling program for use as mulch in community parks and gardens.

• Saw the trunk into logs and burn them in your fireplace.

• Use the needles to make aromatic potpourris and sachets to enjoy year-round.

Feeding our tree to goats just might be our new Christmas tradition.  How about you?

 

Happy New Year and cheers to a healthy, happy, peaceful and GREENER 2017!

 

For more green living tips, visit greenwithbetsy.com.

Some information compiled from http://www.care2.com/greenliving/ways-to-recycle-christmas-trees.html.