Here's why Caracole is selling seeds instead of traditional Christmas trees this year

In another casualty of the ongoing Christmas tree shortage, Caracole will not sell Christmas trees this year.

Instead, the nonprofit is taking a different approach and selling tree seeds. Just be patient and give it a few years, but each compostable ornament comes with seeds and the materials to (eventually) grow your very own tree.

In order for Caracole to feasibly do the Christmas tree sale, which funds their organization as a whole, a minimum of 200 trees need to be purchased from the small, family-owned farms the organization typically buys from, Ellie Singleton, Caracole's chief development officer said.

Caracole's order of trees from farms isn't large by sale standards, and the vendors they work with filled big orders first. Even after reaching out to new vendors in the hopes of obtaining trees, Singleton said it just wasn't able to work.

The proceeds from the traditional tree sales can go toward anything from funding a harm reduction vending machine, to helping pay for rent.

"We've heard that people are really disappointed we're not selling trees," Singleton said. "We have a really lovely, loyal base, and some families that have been buying trees from us for a decade. There's some disappointment, but, hopefully, people will want to buy ornaments, and we hope that goes well."

Even as the tree seed sale begins, Caracole has let their vendors know that they hope to be back in the grown tree-selling business as soon as they can.

"When we parted ways this year, we said we're coming back next year," Singleton said.

How to buy Caracole's Christmas tree seeds

The tree sale had a home at Findlay Market for years and more recently at Growing Trade Pet and Plant in Northside. Growing Trade Pet and Plant is one of the local businesses that will sell Caracole's tree seeds this year, which are also available to purchase through Caracole's website.

The Cincinnati Men's Chorus will also sell the ornaments at their holiday concert, Dec. 3-4 at Memorial Hall.

Each $25 blossom kit ornament comes with the materials required to grow a Douglas fir tree, including seeds, peat pellets and a biodegradable ornament that can double as a planter.

According to Caracole's website, here's what the ornaments can help fund:

• One ornament for $25 can help purchase HIV and hepatitis C kits.
• Two ornaments for $50 helps Caracole cover utility bills for formerly homeless, HIV-positive people living in their housing programs.
• Three ornaments for $75 helps offer translation services for non-English-speaking clients.
• Five ornaments for $125 helps cover the costs of medication for clients unable to afford them.