Eating a Tree.

[LScott]

my friend is using my account to ask this question:


i've been offered a lot of money to eat a tree seedling. and i'm seriously considering doing it. i want to know if there are any serious side effects to doing this. i'm thinking a small summer pine seedling. fert, needles, the works.
anyone know if this will kill me?
if i don't die, i promise i will film this stunt and post the youtube link here.

[E.E]

Do it. Make the gene pool a little cleaner.

[Gabe]

high in fibre, yummy yum yum

[Scooter]

It's got to be healthier than a Big Mac meal.

[Mike]

Well...

Try to get a tree that hasn't been treated with pesticides. And then ask if you can wash it anyways.

When you say "fert, the works", do you mean the plug? That's a lot of dirt to get down.

[Richianity]

Define 'alot of money'...

Make sure to YouTube it.

[skibum_]

I watched one guy eat a 20cm spruce seedling. Tree, roots, dirt, fert, etc. He got it all down then puked it up 5 minutes later. Make sure there is no puking clause in your contract, then do it.

[Richianity]

So how did this work out?

[Guillermo]

Don't eat trees!
In my first season, during the first or second shift, one of the rookies figured he'd worked out the best method for having a tree ready and flagging the spot before he planted a tree in it. It somehow involved him holding the tree in his mouth while he tore the flag off, and then planting the tree. After about 3 hours he started vomiting, and took the rest of the day off and rested in the truck. There is some nasty shit on those trees, and eating one would be a bad idea.

[Nate]

How would you even do it? Cut it up and eat it?

[Scooter]

I know you're just itching to present a smoothie recipe here shortly.

Don't want no teeth crunching down on no vermiculite.

[newforest]

dig up a naturally regenerated little seedling out of the ground

[bhappy]

Just make sure this isn't you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNTuHEnjjrM

[landhammerer]

aren't the trees we plant genetically modified to grow faster?

[jdtesluk]

No, they are selected (in the seed collection process) to be stronger and faster growing, but they are not GM. THere are GM loblolly pine trees being grown in the lower mainland in huge greenhouses, but they are being produced for southern markets such as the Gulf States. They tend to require more intensive land treatment than one can generally manage in BC. However, GM trees are likely not far off. The said loblollies are produced to have a lower lignin content, which reduces the amount of chemicals required for pulp-processing (which could be a good thing). There are many critics of GM trees, though. I recommend reading and article called "Future Forests" to explore some of the concerns around this application of technology (bib reference below if you're keen). One may surmise that efforts to produce GM trees in our area may accelerate as growing climates shift, and we encounter needs (or wants) to grow different species in areas farther north. Or perhaps some pest-resistant pine with sap that kills the beetle. Who knows what Frankentrees lie ahead, but they're not here yet to my knowledge.

Bailey, Conner; Dubois, Mark R.; Sinclair, Peter R.. 2004. “Future Forests: Forecasting Social and Ecological Consequences of Genetic Engineering.” Society and Natural Resources. 17(7):641-650.

[southwestrepresent]

I watched a dude eat a tree, dirt and all for 200 trees. We were doing underplant so it was 26 cents a tree...
still not worth it

[SwampDonkey]

THere are GM loblolly pine trees being grown in the lower mainland in huge greenhouses, but they are being produced for southern markets such as the Gulf States. They tend to require more intensive land treatment than one can generally manage in BC. However, GM trees are likely not far off. The said loblollies are produced to have a lower lignin content, which reduces the amount of chemicals required for pulp-processing (which could be a good thing).

Who is behind it? ArborGen?

I can't find any info on growing them in BC by Googling. I can't imagine them doing it way up north and shipping seedlings way down south. I don't see why they couldn't do it cheaper in the southern US. Unless it's more a safe haven for the research in BC or something.

Here's an article from August 2007

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ArborGen+ ... 0167942216

[Gingerplanter]

No, they are selected (in the seed collection process) to be stronger and faster growing, but they are not GM. THere are GM loblolly pine trees being grown in the lower mainland in huge greenhouses, but they are being produced for southern markets such as the Gulf States. They tend to require more intensive land treatment than one can generally manage in BC. However, GM trees are likely not far off. The said loblollies are produced to have a lower lignin content, which reduces the amount of chemicals required for pulp-processing (which could be a good thing).

Have you heard of bio pulping before? it is pretty interesting, they use white rots to remove the lignins naturally with out having to use the harsh chemicals.

[retrovertigo]

Anyone seen the movie Otesanek?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228687/

[Tits]

It depends on how much money we're talking about here. I heard that a guy from another camp who was staying in our camp this year ate a tree and he was fine, he wouldn't recommend it though