On the North side of the barn is a smallish field. A loafing field really.
It is directly behind the pig sty.
We rolled the last two bales of mississippi grass hay through the pig sty and out to the North side, positioning them with difficulty at either end, then built a fence down the middle.
Right about there where the lambs were laying about in the morning.
Then Queenie, Hairy and The Bobby took up residence in one side.
And Mama and her flock were on the other side, sharing with Daisy through the fence and the sheep and Daisy still with access to their indoor living. Inside the barn is a special pen called a creep pen that only the lambs can access, this has good alfalfa and some oats and barley with their own water bucket. Otherwise the big sheep steal all their stuff. In fact I find that the lambs are often in there, out of the way of the others, just sleeping.
Do you see Johnathon Livingston Seagull Tilly?
Good morning. Life on the farm is toddling along in this new warm environment. The clothes are out on the clothesline, I have begun to clear flower beds, today we will put in the first of the potatoes and another set of onions (my aim is 365 onions this year.) After a few more days of warm sunshine like this then we will see some grass beginning. I feel like a race horse being let out of a starting gate with a great Leap.
Yesterday I was standing in the barn thinking what a joy it was not to have to wear so many clothes, though I still had four layers and the clown pants on!
The boys are off to begin to collect next years firewood today. A friend is tearing out some of his hedge trees. I growled at him yesterday about pulling down the trees that help keep his air clean, I asked him what he was gaining, he said four extra rows. (He was talking about corn and beans) I used colourful language. (Which only made them laugh as bad language in a posh NZ accent cannot be taken seriously evidently). John called him a tree assassin and shook his head. He hates to see trees go down.
The flip side of this dirty coin is that we will now work to get our wood shed filled so the wood is put to good use. Hedge apple wood makes good fence posts too so I hope to pull some of that size out of the piles before they set fire to the lot. And I will take the man a tree tomorrow, to plant in his own garden, as an offering to the tree gods. (Can you imagine the look on his face but he will not be able to say no!) Frankly I wish the trees had Gods but I am afraid they would be a vengeful lot in this day and age. It makes me so sad to see big trees go down, I cannot help but feel it. Every year we plant trees here, but I have an old apple and an old peach that will have to give way to the young ones soon, due to rot, but it will still make me sad to take them out. John keeps putting it off. We will plant four trees to replace them though.
I hope you all get to plant a tree this year. If you don’t have the space, let me know and I will plant a tree for you. Maybe along the creek or along our back fence line for shade for the animals. You can choose. Keeping the tree canopy alive makes a huge difference to our air quality so look after your big trees in town too, especially after last years drought.
Back to the farm. Each of these loafing fields has access to a big field. My plan is that once these bales are gone, we can lay out the electric fences, open the gates and let the animals begin their green grass cycles. And in the interim the empty home fields will be growing new forage for the late summer. Won’t that be excellent.
Have a lovely, lovely, lovely day. It is almost dawn, off I go.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
76 responses to “Looking after our canopy of trees”
Sad to see the trees go – we lost so many this winter. Wish there was a way to get some of the wood to you for your fire!
Enjoy the Warm!
Have a good day..pity about the trees… but then good for you for the wood…
it is a dirty coin, but a cycle evolves.. c
I’m planting an apple tree this year, but plant another for me too – the more the merrier. And I’m trying very hard not to be too grumpy or ranty about the tree assassin, but at least you will put the wood to good use.
It is sad, though they are not pretty trees or anything, i think they have their place, even if it is just holding the soil in c
It is very sad. Here on the Maine coast we are crowded in with trees and it’s a challenge to make and keep open spaces!
Good, the more green you have the better, you must have crystal clear air.. I always think if you drive a car you need to plant a tree.. c
One can never have too many trees! I did plant one in NZ in 2003 when I visited – wonder if it is still standing. It is lovely to see clear blue sky over your patch. Laura
That is a great feeling, leaving a tree in another country.. and in my home country to boot.. thank you!
We don’t have room for more trees on our lot but we do try to transplant the walnuts that the squirrels plant to my brother in law’s property.
I think that is wonderful,walnut trees are a fantastic tree to grow, I have planted a black walnut and it is doing beautifully out here..welcome to the comments lounge lisa! c
I wish your tree feller could see the landscape here, wiith every hedgerow coppiced – ours gave us enough firewood for three years and the re-growth is nearly ready for coppicing again. Please can you persuade the tree feller to watch this: http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change.html?source=facebook#.UVV1-jGjrcd.facebook
Have a lovely day. I hope your good weather lasts. We woke up to snow AGAIN this morning, but most of it has gone now.
wow, this is the strangest spring.. hopefully you get some lovely warm days soon.. I have always believed that deforestation is one of the major catastrophes of the modern life style, the old slash and burns of our grandparents time has a lot to answer for.. c
Always trees for the tree gods, especially these days with us seemingly at war with the green giants, our protectors 🙂
Just think if everyone planted a tree every year how clean our air on the planet would be. We do plant trees every year. We live in a small subdivision and everyone else seems to like the open yards that I guess are easier to mow. Trees also help to cool the area around them. Just a win, win for trees and people.
sandra you are so right about cooling the houses, as much as anything else, your place must look magnificent from the air, you will be all green and gorgeous! welcome to the comments lounge! c
I reckon it’s far too easy to mistake a dormant, leafless tree as dead, not worth our attention or affection, and that’s why most are felled in the winter. During the summer, we trim them. During the winter, they fall. Happy Easter, Cecilia. xx
That is an interesting observation misky, they don’t feel so bad felling trees that have no leaves.. c
Yes, that’s what I reckon. 🙂
HI Celi, I’m with you when it comes to tree planting! The more the better! We just received this year’s 12 young trees that I order yearly to support the arbor day foundation. We lovingly planted them last year, and then, with the drought, none of them survived. This year we will plant them closer to the house and near our one outdoor water source. Also, we are planting special trees for my wonderful mom and my brother-in-law who passed last year. Of course they are always with us, but having a special remembrance tree for them will be wonderful too! Happy Weekend!!! xo
I also plant trees for the ones who have died and as I pass them I introduce them to people, there is Donna’s magnolia, there is peters curly barked maple, and on it goes.. it is a lovely walk.. c
The forest behind us seems to be really well managed. Farmers have wood cutting rights, and those rights extend to replanting and husbandry of their area. It does seem that some bigger companies are starting to get large swathes of the forest, as building in wood is big in France.
I would LOVE to have a forest close by.. lucky you.. c
Squish wants to plant at least one tree this year. I bought him a watering can at a thrift store, and he is ready to go to work. I’m hiring him out if you need help.
I put buckets with tiny holes in them right next to each new tree, tell squish to fill it with water every few days and let the water slowly drip in, that way none is wasted.. and it is kind of fun too ..c
Ugg, I hate tree assasins; have plenty here in Vancouver! But something happy: I brought in some pussy willow branches a month ago, they sprouted in the vase, as pussy willows will want to do, and are now happily growing in a pot waiting to be transplanted to the cabin’s 5 acres. If I can’t plant it in the city, it’s going in the country! 🙂
I should do that with my pussy willow too, thanks for the reminder! The bees love them! c
What a real shame that they cut the trees down, but at least you got firewood out of it. The city cut a huge maple from the front of our house last fall after a giant branch fell on our neighbour’s car. They have yet to replace it. They came so quickly I never even had a chance to say goodbye to the tree.
So sad, even a good trim would have been better, but I must say.. if you park under a tree something may fall on you.. best to think of that before they park there. c
The city said that the tree had been diseased so that’s why they cut it down. Both our driveways were underneath the old tree, so we were very lucky it didn’t fall on our car. It’s really too bad but a lot of the trees in this neighbourhood are coming up to 80-100 years old, so I suspect there will many removed over the next few years. Fortunately the city replaces them but sadly they will take 80 years to look as good as the originals!
This is true, even a tree ages and dies.. sad, there is a great deal of trust in the planting of a tree.. c