As if I'm not already far enough behind...

[Peterthecactusguy]

hehe cool. the shade looks nice.. compared to what I am used to here in AZ lol

[Harriet]

Cool, awesome, wonderful, and awwww come to mind as I see the trees and chicks. Keep planting, it just seems so "right"!

[mughal113]

Awesome... there is a saying here, if you want a home in heavens, plant a tree on earth.

[daiv]

Hey, I've got some new pictures. to share. I went out to experiment. Planted 60 trees in two hours. That just won't do! Going to have to step things up majorly!

By the way, I mis-spoke initially, it isn't 16,000, but only 13,600.

[daiv]

OK, time for some pictures...

Here is part of the field to be planted - total area: 82 acres

ztree_field.jpg (358.88 KiB) Viewed 211 times

I went here yesterday to pick them up

ztree_sign.jpg (587.27 KiB) Viewed 211 times

The two pallets in front are the ones for us

ztree_boxes.jpg (366.54 KiB) Viewed 211 times

Loaded in the van

ztree_van.jpg (379.7 KiB) Viewed 211 times

Some pine seedlings ready to be planted

ztree_seedlings.jpg (466.01 KiB) Viewed 211 times

Flags to mark them in the tall grass

ztree_flag.jpg (369.91 KiB) Viewed 211 times

Got this nifty auger to dig holes fast!

ztree_auger.jpg (578.44 KiB) Viewed 211 times

[John C]

That sure is a lot of trees! The auger should help makes things go a little faster, but 13,600 What a job!

[Harriet]

Quick math tells me you have a little more than 450 hours of planting ahead at that rate. Hope you get some help! My back hurts just thinking about it.

[Peterthecactusguy]

hehe AWE baby pine tree seedlings. How cute. They really are very cute. I love trees, but really don't have that many. I grow more cacti instead

(some of them are tree cacti)

[daiv]

Harriet,
Yes, going to be getting a LOT of extra help. I just had to get an idea of the scope and methods. Now that I've got it worked out, I'll round up a dozen or so people and we'll rip through it.

Daiv

[SnowFella]

Admit it Daiv....the thought have crossed your mind to mix in some cold tolerant Opuntia's among all those pines!

[Harriet]

Please keep us posted on the progress. I'd love to follow the genesis of a new forest.

[martenfisher]

Maybe throw some apples, peaches, and pears in the mix. Oh, and cherries. Bing sweet.

[Peterthecactusguy]

we in AZ can't grow any of those. It's too warm here lolz..

cold tolerant Opuntia would be nice..

[daiv]

There are lots of Opuntias in this picture:

ztree_field.jpg

You just can't see them in the grass, but if you look at my MN outdoor thread, the immediate foreground is where they are all located.

@Marten - none of those will live here except Apples - too cold (we are Zone 3-B). That said we aren't planting apples either because they have almost zero chance of survival without protection. Everything likes to eat apple trees, roots, leaves, buds, etc. Deer, rodents, tent caterpillars. We can get them going with wire cages and things, but in the field and on this scale it is not practical.

[daiv]

OK, we're stepping it up a notch!

The guy who organizes the Audubon Bird count for our area called me about this coming Saturday's spring count. One of his friends has a tree planting machine. Now that is not a new concept, but we purposely were avoiding machine planting because of the rows. We want the area to look natural and not like a bunch of marching soldiers. After talking with Greg (the guy on the tractor) he said that he's got a method by making arcs and using the contours of the land to hide any lines that a machine would otherwise make. Still a good amount of work, but we'll be able to get this project done way faster!

ztree_machine.jpg (471.48 KiB) Viewed 147 times