the barn in fall

the barn in fall

Friday, February 22, 2013

Trees In A Box!

LOOK WHAT I GOT!




What do you mean, you can't see anything?  There are 140 trees in that box! 
 
Literally, in the box.  The corrogations in the cardboard contain approximately 70 tree seeds (and beneficial mycorrhizal fungi) per square foot, which means all parts of the box.  Yup, we're planting an empty box.

Life Box Company is not only concerned with perpetuating life on our plantet, but also with doing it without creating waste products.  In fact, they made the packaging beneficial to growth.  Basic instructions are right on the box - two boxes, in this photo:



 
I haven't started it yet, but that soak and chill part is interesting.  Soak for 10 minutes, and chill in the refrigerator for 6-12 weeks.  I think this simulates the dormant period of winter, because if you plant in the fall, you skip the refrigeration step.
 
I don't expect to have a forest - many seedlings don't survive in nature, and I imagine deer, rabbits, and assorted others will make a tasty snack of some of my baby trees.  But as a prospective parent, I am looking forward to some or all of the following native species:
 
 
Douglas fir                                                     river birch
Arizona cypress                                             water birch
Blue spruce                                                    paper birch
Lodgepole pine                                              desert willow
pitch pine                                                       American sweetgum
Eastern white pine                                         American sycamore
Virginia pine                                                  American elm
mountain hemlock
white cedar
                                                                                                               
Stay tuned for the next twenty or thirty years and watch my babies grow up!
 
 


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