Are you Growing?

What kind of soil are you planted in? Are you in fertile soil, full of the necessary nutrients and moisture to grow and develop? Do you find yourself barely seeing above the circumstances of your life?  As I scan the plot for the next sapling these are the kinds of questions that run through my mind.  The quiet solitude of measuring and monitoring the saplings provides plenty of time to think.  

Replanting

Friday began with replanting several Jack Pine and Red Oak.  They had been pulled out most likely by a curious porcupine who thought chewing the metal tags was a good idea.  Given that the trees had died because they were pulled up because of the tags and not just death because of the conditions we made the choice to replant them.  We shall see at the end of July how they are doing.

Our second site nicely illustrated the impact of nutrients on plant growth.  In the area where nutrients were applied the timothy and other grasses were at least 5 to 10 inches taller than the samplings.  In the areas where competition had been reduced by using a tiller the trees were just about as tall as the new weed and grass growth. We were thankful to have a metal detector to help locate the hard to find trees in the thick grass.  

First Tree Mortality

This day was especially nice, with a gentle breeze blowing for most of the morning. As the sun grew in intensity the heat radiating off the primarily sandy soil only served as a reminder of the challenge of new growth on these sites.  Of course we know that growth is not impossible in these areas as we see plenty of grasses growing all around our plots.  Off in the distance we see pine forest and are reminded that the system we stand in is a result of human use.  Even in driving to these sites we are constantly reminded that our research is just as much because of our consumption of oil and gas as anyone else on the Earth. This reality keeps us humble.

Deer Tracks leading to
the dead Red Oak

We observed our first Deer caused mortality.  Tracks led right up to the location of a red oak and the tree had been pulled out of the grown and dropped about 10 feet from its original location.  The top of the sapling had been nibbled off and the rest of the woody material left on the sandy soil.

 Back to the original question of today's post ~ Soil ~ something that can be rejuvenated or depleted ~ cared for or abused.  We each have been planted, into families, communities, and geographically.  One neat thing about being in Northern Michigan is seeing how lush a northern hardwood forest can be, and yet remembering that it has similar soils to the sites where we are working.  The main difference is that over time a forest has developed and leaf liter each year falls to the grown, rots, and provides back needed nutrients to sustain life.  The shade of the taller trees keeps the soil cooler and new life can grow up in the understory.  This provides an analogy to growing up in a community.  Those older than us provide a microclimate hopefully conducive to our growth and development. In time we will become those older ones.  Of course, I don't think trees ever grown to appreciate the services the older more mature vegetation provide them with, however, we as humans can and should be thankful for those people in our lives who have been used to help us mature.  We were never meant to be a singular "tree" planted in a field but "trees" planted in community along streams of living water!

Enjoy a "taste" of our day