1,200 More Trees

We haven't mentioned anything here about our forestry efforts this year, but that doesn't mean that there haven't been any. In fact, we planted 1,200 trees.

1,200 trees? How the heck can you do that with an infant? Answer: very slowly (and with a little help.)

We planted 400 trees last year, and 200 the prior year. The second year actually took longer per tree than the first, since we were a bit more educated about what needed to be done. We also had to do maintenance on the trees from the previous year, making sure that the grasses we scalped didn't return to starve the young trees. With the expectation this year that only one of us would be available to work in the field at a time - while the other stayed in the house with Anders - we were hoping that we would be able to drive down the time-per-person-per-tree.

We ordered our 1200 trees late last year: 900 Ponderosa Pine and 300 Douglas Fir, both native species for the area. I suppose that we could have skipped any plantings this year, but since we're on a plan to plant our 12 acre meadow in the next few years, every year counts. When we ordered the trees we knew it would be more difficult to find the time this year than previously, but it turned out to be even harder than we anticipated.

The trees arrived in late March, but the ground in Trout Lake was still frozen and covered in snow. So as in most years, we left the trees in the conservation district's "tree cooler" (aka refrigerated trailer) for as long as we could. But unfortunately our crazy work schedules started at just about the same time that we could have started planting. We did manage to get the first 200 into the ground in April, primarily by going into the field immediately after work. Anders would almost always fall asleep in the car on the drive home from work, so we would make a quick stop at the house to pick up the tools and change clothes, then drive immediately out to the field with the trees. Both Corinne and I would be able to plant until either Anders woke up or it got dark.

But before we could make too much progress, we had to leave for our spring trips to Seattle and New Jersey. At about the same time, the tree cooler was being taken away so we were forced to find another holding place for our trees. We managed to find room in the commercial refrigerator at work for the remaining 5 bags of seedlings; we hoped that they would survive there until we returned from our trips.

To help speed the planting process along, we hired the brother of a friend to finish scalping the remaining planting sites while we were away. We hoped that once we returned we would be able to get them all into the ground fairly quickly.

When we returned, we did manage to find time to get at least one bag (200) into the ground before an unseasonably warm spell fell upon us. Since we don't irrigate the trees at all, trying to plant them in 90+ degree weather didn't seem like a good idea. So we waited until the weather was more agreeable. It took a few weeks, but finally the weather broke and we were able to finish our planting by the first of June. After a few more weeks of work in the field, we finished maintenance on all of the previous years' plantings. Finally!

Because the trees went in so late this year, we are expecting to have a lower survival rate than we have in our previous efforts. I think next year will probably be a "rebuilding" year: we'll spend our efforts replanting the trees that didn't make it. The goal is to harvest commercially, but since that can't happen for 50 years or so I guess missing a year or two doesn't matter that much.

First year's seedlings, after one year of growth
(photo taken July 2008)

We were so busy just trying to finish the project that we didn't take any photos! Next spring we promise to take lots of photos of all three years of plantings. It's very rewarding to see how much your projects have grown, whether those projects be in tree- or child-form. ;)

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket