Trees to Save the World

 

A few years ago I fell into a deep, unshakeable funk. Maybe it was because it was winter and I had a significant case of no-sunshine-on-my-face-or-dirt-between-my-toes. Whatever. All I know is that my mind kept revolving around climate change and "what can I d?", I'm not doing enough." Of course I had taken more than a few steps to help reduce my footprint on the planet. I mean, doesn't growing so much of my own food count for something?

But it wasn't enough.

It wasn't enough, I kept thinking.

I've got to do more.

All the doom and gloom stories I read about climate change just made it worse. I quit reading them. Unless a headline indicated I might get helpful information about, or contained something positive, I didn't read them. I already know it's bad.

That didn't help much. The funk remained.

I tried writing about my funk in a journal. That helped some, but not enough.

I kept reading things that said, "Plant trees."

"Plant trees."

That was at least part of the solution.

Plant trees.

I can plant trees.

So planting trees became my personal "save the world" project.

I didn't go out and buy a bunch of trees, though. I bought a few, but they weren't necessarily part of my save-the-world project. Instead I planted seeds and started digging up seedlings the squirrels had so generously planted in my garden.

The fact that I collected the seeds of some of these trees myself made this project more than a save-the-world project. It is quite fun. Many of my little trees also will eventually provide food for me, and, without a doubt, for wildlife.

Paw paws and persimmons were the first seeds planted. I had received paw paws to eat at a music festival and saved the seeds. Later I received seeds from local paw paws. At the same festival I found an American persimmon tree full of ripening fruit, ate some fruit and saved the seeds. I also dug a couple of little chinquapin oak seedlings some generous squirrels had planted in the garden. 

My favorite bit about pretty much all of the trees in my little project is that they are native here. I may be at the far western edge of the range for persimmons, but I am not that far west of the area where I found the fruiting tree. 

The site where I planted the paw paws isn't ideal, but I do have a grafted tree that I planted seven or so years ago that appears to be doing well there. It has not provided fruit because the few paw paw trees I've seen in the woods seem to have died, and the pollinators for paw paws, which are flies instead of bees, are not terribly efficient. However, this year my paw paw produced three little fruits on a puny branch at the bottom of the tree. You can bet I saved and planted the seeds.

Likewise, my site isn't ideal for persimmons, but that's never stopped me with anything else. American persimmons (a Chinese persimmon also exists) are dioecious, meaning that male flowers grow on one tree and female flowers grow on another tree, so you need both female and male trees to get fruit. Except when you don't. I have a young grafted persimmon that is a self-fruitful variety. And sometimes a tree will produce "perfect" flowers, meaning that one flower has both male and female reproductive structures. Apparently a tree of one sex also might suddenly start producing flowers of the other sex. So they seem a bit "gender fluid."

The persimmons you find in grocery stores are invariably of the Chinese species, as the fruit is much larger than that of the American species.

Until this year I've only relocated chinquapin (also spelled "chinkapin") oak seedlings rather than planting the acorns myself. However, a couple of months ago I found several dozen little acorns lying on the road and gathered them up. I don't think I stored them properly, though, as when I cracked on open to test the flavor it was hard and dry, but tasty still. I think I should have put them in a plastic bag in the fridge instead of in a paper bag. They might not be able to grow, but I planted some anyway. I will crack open the rest and maybe soak them or grind them before eating. All acorns are edible, but require a leaching process to remove the excess of tannins. However, chinquapin acorns contain far less tannin and can be eaten without leaching.

To plant the tree seeds I filled gallon-size pots with wet potting soil and pushed the seeds in about an inch (two centimeters) deep, ideally one seed to a pot. However, I put two or three seeds in each pot because I know some might not germinate. The pots live on the north side of the house, which allows the seeds to experience the natural freezing and thawing of winter. This enhances germination. I will water them periodically to keep everything moist and may devise covers for them to help prevent drying. Soaking them prior to planting might help, but I'm not in a hurry for them to sprout. 

Seeds I planted three years ago no longer live in pots. At some point they all graduated to five-gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom, because I wasn't ready to plant them after a year. Initially I wanted to plant them out last fall. That didn't happen. Then I wanted to put them out this spring.

That didn't happen, either. However, they got planted this fall. Ta da! Most of them were surrounded by chicken wire, even though the area they were planted in is surrounded by concrete reinforcing wire. Rabbits, which will eat little seedlings, can get through the six-inch squares of the taller fencing, and the chicken wire will keep them out.

Now I just need to keep them watered, and maybe provide a little shade for the baby paw paws this coming summer.

I have no illusions that my little project will have a huge impact on climate change, but every little bit helps. We've lost half of the world's trees in the past century as jungles and forests were/are cleared for agriculture, industrial uses and the spread of towns and cities. Everything helps.

Tropical zone trees suck up far more carbon than temperate zone trees, but I live in a temperate zone. To "plant" trees in the equatorial area I have donated to a fabulous organization called Tree Sisters. They not only plant trees, but work with local populations to make sure the trees are cared for, which often means providing assistance that enables them to support themselves without cutting down trees, or teaching them to properly manage their use of trees. In some areas, their programs also empower women. You can make a one-time donation, or set up a monthly donation. Check them out and plant some trees. Future generations thank you.