This is my mid-afternoon coffee break.
We have a break in the weather. It is not raining. It is above freezing. Quicksilver is napping. It is a grand time to get some things done.
I cleared out a shelf in Mrs ERJ's refrigerator where I was storing seeds. Mrs ERJ is a saint. I moved them to containers to stratify them.
Next year will be a "big" year for seedlings because I was given permission to plant an acre of scrub-grass to trees at a location that I am not at liberty to disclose. The acre is very roughly one-hundred feet across (east-west) by four-hundred feet long (north-south) and slopes the long way. Soil at the top and bottom are good. Top-soil at mid-slope is eroded and thin.
The west side of the strip is already wooded.
The plan is to put hybrid-Chestnuts at the top (great drainage), Northern Red Oak (or similar) in the middle and Pecans and Black Walnuts at the bottom. Seedling hazelnuts along the exposed east edge along with seedling of diploid plums and seedlings of Chojuro Asian pear. I will blend the blocks so there are no crisp transitions.
Black Locust seedlings wedged in every here-and-there for nitrogen fixing.
Planting on a 10'-by-10' grid requires about 400 plants-per-acre.
I’ve always said old men plant trees....young men enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you’re not old, but some day young men will appreciate what you did, probably without ever knowing you.
Well said.
DeleteIn the same vein ; If a man doesn't plant a tree because he won't live to enjoy its shade , where will his grandchildren sit ?
ReplyDeleteGood for you Joe. That's the best thing we can do for the future. [I hope}. I planted three trees last week that I will never see bear fruit but it's the sowing not the reaping I want to do at this point of my life.. ---ken
ReplyDeleteSomeone once asked if I knew I would die today what would I do?
ReplyDeleteEasy peasy
Get a Hawaiian flower wreath and plant a tree.
Sounds lovely, ERJ. Yes, planting in the face of a world that seems bound and determined to destroy itself is one of the greatest acts of faith we can accomplish.
ReplyDeleteI have access to a good deal of seed stock for all if that down here in ETN... if you're needing any genetics adapted to a warmer climate.
ReplyDeleteI've got 14 different kinds of fruit, nut, and berry producing trees/plants on my little two acres in SW Idaho. Some may not produce in my lifetime, if they survive (pecan). Some are doing ok, some great. Still planning on more and different kinds and experiments. Pawpaw is my next planned experiment. I like planting trees, especially ones that give me something to eat.
ReplyDelete