the man who planted trees

asmileisthenewak47 It must be nice to see such a big apple tree. I like big trees they make things eally way out we are always cutting things down to size and big trees are magnificent instead of twee.
  They used to make furniture out of fruit woods so if you grow big fruit trees you can have the fruit and the wood.  i suppose. agri rose macaskie.

Brenda Groth wrote:
they are sweet with just a hint of a tang, they are not overly firm or tough but also not mushy soft..easy to bite into , they have a fairly thin skin with a bit of green color after mature but still mostly red..just a spot of green on them..

  So they came true from seed? That is very interesting. Do you have any seeds lying around?

I would love to grow a Medrona tree but is there a way to get one to grow here??

Madroños are called arbutos unedo in latin which is the niversal llanguage for plants. If they have a different name in each county in englishthen you are better off withthe latin one. I think you should be able to buy one they are in gardening books, they like a mediteranian climate.
    I have just looked it up and there is a diffeent ty0pe  incentral america, garcian madruno, so its getting complicated. rose

Thanks Rose,
Yes I only know this tree by the name I heard others use.

It sounds like this tree would be most unhappy in Montana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2a4ti6uLMg&feature=related

A beautiful animated film.

paul posted this a long time ago, great film.

Paul talks about The Man Who Planted Trees in his podcast review of chapter 6 of Gaia's Garden. He and Jocelyn discuss the role of trees: http://www.richsoil.com/permaculture/373-podcast-055-gaias-garden-chapter-6/

definitely worth reposting, such a good story.

all that from the man who planted trees?^^

i show people this video all the time, its good stuff.

You can like it without telling people you like it. And besides, it's all about how you interpret it. To me, the story doesn't have anything to do with religion; just about the potential goodness of humanity, and how big a difference one person can make in the world.

Paul, Caleb, and Krista review The Man Who Planted Trees in this podcast: podcast

If this story isn't true, you can still find examples of people doing similar things in many places around the world. I found this thread about a man reforesting the desert in India very inspiring; https://permies.com/t/11177/permaculture/India-Sepp-Holzer#102139
The small amount of acreage resulted in a rise in the water table for villages all around the site.

This is a great story, I'm glad this post was bumped. Unfortunately, none of the three links in this thread have the video available any longer. This site has it available to watch, and it looks pseudo-official, suggesting it won't be removed soon. Definitely check it out!

here's an actual man who does plant trees (by the million)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdoe_gI_fSs&feature=player_embedded#!

it doesn't seem that the two links that were posted for the video are working, is there another one on this thread that does work?

A guy in india plants a 1360 acre forest



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wow hadn't ever heard of this, absolutely beautiful! thank you for sharing!

So glad to see this thread is still going strong! This video might be my favorite story - definitely in the top 10 as Paul says. I thought I'd post the vimeo link that is higher quality since the viddler link is no longer valid

http://vimeo.com/32542316

I wish everyone I know would see this.

paul wheaton wrote:A guy in india plants a 1360 acre forest

Yes, that is an awesome story. I tried to google more images of it, but wasn't very successful. The Times of India version of the story said the forest service had virtually ignored what he was doing until rampaging elephants took refuge in the forest he'd created.

You know you've made a significant forest if 100 elephants can hide in it.

The full show:

Love them apples, thanks for the video!!

"Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler fork may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules, any clodhopper may say: let there be a tree-and there will be one."

-Aldo Leopold

Mo Smith wrote:"Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler fork may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules, any clodhopper may say: let there be a tree-and there will be one."

-Aldo Leopold

I aspire to be a humble FORK someday myself!

I am so happy to have found this site. Hope is rekindled. Lets change the future. One tree at a time. It would seem the above video is rooted in fact. Does anyone have a bit more historical information to go along?

Brenda Groth wrote:you really should have at least one apple tree that blooms during the same time period..for best apple production.

most fruit trees do better with another of the same ..or if not you can always rob a bearing branch from a tree somewhere and put it in a bucket near your tree for cross pollination..that is the old fashioned way of doing it.

you can also graft a branch of another tree on your tree for the same purpose.

Some apple varieties are triploid and require a pollinator of a different variety. Crab apples work exceptionally well - better than any regular apples.
As mentioned, you also have to make sure your pollinator blooms at the same time as the tree to be pollinated.
Here is a good resource: http://www.raintreenursery.com/Pollination_Apples.html

A documentary about greening the desert broadcasted by the Dutch public television, it involves the work of Geoff Lawton and an excellent example from China:



I felt it didn't was necessary to open a topic just for this so I hope it fits in right here.

paul wheaton wrote:A 30 minute video. 

This is on my top 10 list.  For all movies, books, whatever.

I'm curious where we can find your top ten list? I loved this and would like to see the other 9

paul wheaton wrote:You can buy tree seed.  How much space do you have?

Plan to buy seeds according to your space.

paul wheaton wrote:A guy in india plants a 1360 acre forest

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wow! It is nice look.

I remember watching this video a few years ago Paul. I found it inspiring. However none of the people who watched it with me liked it enough to watch it to the end. This video both inspires and frustrates me because on a prairie there are no trees and thus creating a hugelculture will be difficult. I'm therefore going to have to plant the trees I intend to harvest which is going to be a long term venture.

Giving the windy conditions I've found one type burr oak that will live here. The trees are odd in that they must have constant shade as in north side locations but put down enormous taproots. I hope to find and test shagbark hickory and bitternut hickory here as well one day. My goal is to see if I can start a burr oak-bitternut hickory planting one day. I think too many people give the bitternut a bad rap but I have a suspicion that the oil from the crushed seeds would make a better than average spray insecticide for a fruiting orchard. You have something that is non toxic but very unpalatable to birds and insects. Both species are long term trees of significant height which will catch lots of snowfall for spring run off.

One of the most interesting observations I had was entering a badly kept farmyard where the fellow had planted ash and commuted into town for a day job. He had a side business which left the yard to nature. The weeds were 90% grasses and grew 3-4ft in height and the place was very noisy with singing insects. I came back a few years later and just like the guy in the video, the trees had grown a good 8-10ft. All that long grass held in moisture allowing there area to become quite fertile...all from neglect. His slough was an oasis of life and unlike every other farm I've been too before or after. Considering the scorched earth till policy of the area, his weedy 5 acres of bush patch really stood out and looked odd. So while the video is a work of fiction I do think it is possible to create a forest on the prairie and create the conditions for long grasses to work with you rather than against you.

Collin Wolfe wrote:This video both inspires and frustrates me because on a prairie there are no trees and thus creating a hugelculture will be difficult. I'm therefore going to have to plant the trees I intend to harvest which is going to be a long term venture.
So while the video is a work of fiction I do think it is possible to create a forest on the prairie and create the conditions for long grasses to work with you rather than against you.

Grassland may be the natural climax for your region, over savanna or forest, but that doesn't mean you cannot apply the principles of accelerated succession in order to encourage a savanna or forest to emerge. Have you considered building swales on contour and planting pioneer species to provide a support environment for longer-term species? You can chop, coppice or pollard the pioneer species for mulch and as wood for hugelbeds, but yes, this will take a few years before you have a surplus of woody mulch.

Stack your support species in suitable ratios to ensure you have such a surplus (you've probably seen this):

I cannot say how tamarack or conifers will breakdown in hugel bed Cory. The only trees I have to work with are plains cottonwoods, tamarack, and boxelder. More location specific I may get away with bur oak or linden but they do not grow particularly fast. Outside of that dogwoods, and caragana are what will form the bush layer. My options are limited.

Apple trees have very interesting genetics. I read an article on them years ago in Scientific American, and no two apple trees are EVER genetically identical. That is the reason we have so many different varieties of apples, and they never breed "true" to the parent tree. Only by grafting apples can you ensure consistency. All the common varieties that we have come to know, are grafts. Boring, I know.

That does NOT mean you can not get a good apple from any old seed. You WILL get an apple tree, just not the one you thought you would. Could be better. Could be worse. Apples are in the same family as roses. Interesting. But think of the rose hip left over from roses in the fall - it looks just like a tiny apple. Cut an apple across and see the star in the apple - a five-pointed structure. Very nice. Good to show kids.

Apple seedlings that sprout spontaneously on your land from a discarded core, obviously love your land, or they would not be growing there. This MAY show good root stock, and may indicate a good specimen to graft on to. If you want to wing it and see what kind of apples you will get, be my guest. But, if you already have a favorite tree, think about using that root stock specimen you found and graft on to it.

Remember - if you will keep the root stock tree in place and allow it to grow where it is after grafting, there is no need to root prune. BUT if you intend to dig up the spontaneous sprouted tree, you may want to "root prune" it for a few years prior to moving it, to keep the roots from going every which way.

For good future transplanting: Plan ahead. Try to keep the roots in a clump. Do that by taking a shovel and pushing it down VERTICALLY into the earth - say - 18 inches to 24 inches from the trunk - every so often for a few years. When it is time to dig up the tree to replant it, remove the dirt beyond the circle of vertical shovel (slices? whatever they are). Excavate from the OUTSIDE, leaving the ball intact and one heck of a big hole in the ground around it.

Moving a big ball of dirt is no problem - just do not think you are going to carry it. It can be dug up, and rolled carefully and placed on a strong piece of canvas or thick, slippery plastic and dragged to your site as if on a sled. Hopefully you have selected a perfect place to replant your tree, and have dug an equally huge hole to accommodate it. When you drag your tree and lower it into the ground, REMOVE THE CANVAS/PLASTIC and place some nice rich soil around it. Do NOT stomp on the soil to compact it - YET.

This is where the advice of an old farmer comes in handy: Despite what it may look like, run a hose directly INTO the newly added dirt where your tree is and where you have put in some soil around it. It will turn into a mud pit around the ball - that is GOOD. Do not disturb the ball itself, just water-in the dirt. Stuff the hose into the mud/dirt, round and round. See the bubbles? That is what you want to get rid of. You do not want hollows under your tree. The water will then wash dirt close to the root ball. Add dirt as needed. Stick the hose into the dirt again, making sure the tree is nicely vertical and settled. There is almost no need to stomp around the tree ball. No breaking roots that way. Just add as much dirt as the tree wants and water it all in. Repeat as needed. Keep the dirt at the same level as it was around the tree, where the tree was originally planted.

This works well for all planted/transplanted bushes and trees.

That movie was absolutely beautiful! Do you know if there was any truth to the story? It brought tears to my eyes.

Anonymous wrote:I would love to grow a Medrona tree but is there a way to get one to grow here??

Where is here? More information is needed to answer this question.

I wonder where food forests fit into this kind of thinking?