"LET'S GO PLANT A TREE"

Yeah, spring break.  Loaded the car with my  " work crew"  and headed to the farm.  The first 3 days we had snow and you guessed it W-I-N-D.  I am not complaining because we always need the moisture-----well maybe the w-i-n-d made me a bit grumpy cause we had so much to do.  We worked in the sun room, to keep out of the weather, building cold frames to put in the garden and made my office corner pretty with curtains and a desk I got from my awesome sister. I can hardly wait to sit at my desk (it has sunflowers carved on every drawer) and draw and paint while looking out the big picture window at my beautiful farm.



                          TREES

------------ there is something wonderful and magical about a tree.  I am a tree planter.  It's not my fault really I just come from a long line of tree planters.  As a child I would swing on a rope tied to a large branch of a hugh Elm out in the back yard.  We lived next to my Grandpa.  He owned 1/4th of a town block.  I'm not sure how big that is probably about two acres.  He had a large garden and lots and lots of big trees.  The Elms were large and magestic.  We spent hours climbing- higher than we should have---, building forts and tree houses, playing in the sand pile and relaxing in the hammocks under the shade of those beautiful trees.  We even held a furnel for my dearly beloved dead pigeon under the comforting branches of one of those trees. (now that is another story).

My father is also a tree planter.  He has a beautiful fruit orchard, pines, spruces, cottonwood,  aspens and more.   My youngest sister (7 girls ) wrote a song about helping  dad plant trees.  It is sung to the tune of "Let's Go Fly A Kite" from the Mary Poppins movie. 

LET'S GO PLANT A TREE,

ONE, TWO, OR FIFTY-THREE.

OUT WHERE THE SUN WILL SHINE,

FAR FROM THE WATER LINE.

LET'S GO-----PLANT A TREE!!!!!

I added this verse:

LET'S GO PLANT A TREE,

NOT JUST FOR YOU AND ME,

BUT FOR EVERYONE,

LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE.

LET'S GO PLANT A TREE!


Well, guess what was at the top of my long list of things to get done at the farm.  Yep------planting trees.  Friday morning dawned beautiful, the snow had melted.  It was 32 degrees.  That was warm enough.  We bundled up and began digging.  The ground was only frozen hard about an inch so we were able to dig.  Where ever an Elm tree sprouts on the farm we leave it there 2 or 3 years and then trans-plant to where we would like it to live.  I dug out the trees while the boys dug the new tree holes.  We got about 10 of the small 6 to 8 footers transplanted.  I had the boys dig a bunch of large holes for the larger trees I will transplant when I get to the farm at the end of April.  I am lucky to have such good helpers.  THANKS GUYS!

keep trees moist to allow the roots to begin new growth

I tried to calculate how many trees I (and my  helpers) have planted over the years. I'm guessing around 500.  No, they haven't all lived.  The tree we have the most success dealing with our wind and weather is the Elm.  I have expermented with all kinds.  I do not have an orchard, sadly it is too cold here for fruit trees (my lilacs don't even blossom).  When we first moved to the farm I planted 200 spruce trees which the jack rabbits ate over the winter without so much as a thank-you.  Now when we plant an ever-green tree we fence it.  The ever-greens need to be planted in the spring so their root system will be ready to support the tree over the winter.  The honey locust, cotton wood and silver leaf something or another do well in this area.  I haven't tried an ash yet, that is next on my list of trees to try.  Does anyone have a suggestion for a tree that will grow in 40 below zero, windy, weather, clay, hard pan soil and tastes awful so the rabbits won't eat it?

LET'S ALL GET OUT AND PLANT A TREE OR TWO, OR FIFTY-THREE  THIS SPRING.

As for me I will plant, and plant, and plant, and plant trees until -------- 

I AM PLANTED IN THE GROUND!