When your parents told you to eat your greens, we're pretty sure they didn't include Christmas trees as an option, but surprisingly, some types of evergreens traditionally seen during the holidays have many culinary uses. We spoke with Julia Geogallis, author of "How to Eat Your Christmas Tree: Delicious, Innovative Recipes for Cooking with Trees" for tips on how to incorporate holiday greenery into your festive feasting and drinking. "Pine, fir and spruce, the most common types of Christmas trees, are all edible," she explains.
"However, I have seen cedars and cypress used on occasion and these trees are poisonous." Geogallis went on to share that "the most delicious bits are the needles," but she notes that while they're not good eaten raw, pine needles can be safely brewed in tea . While this may sound odd, Geogallis elaborated on the idea, "I think of Christmas tree needles in the same way we might think of an herb like rosemary — used for flavor, but you wouldn't eat a sprig of rosemary as it doesn't have a great texture.
" Collecting greens from the wild Julia Geogallis recommends foraging for these greens in the wild, and she warns against using trees sold at grocery stores and in parking lots. She explains that they're "often not grown to be eaten, they are sprayed with all kinds of chemicals, and I've even seen trees sprayed green to make them look 'more Christmassy,' which are also not suitable for eating. My only advice is to ask the person that you are buying you.