Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net>]

Here's the setting:  We established a new, fenced, growing area out in a field that the Whitetail frequent and moved in a few hundred trees of 20+ species in containers, including a Jujube about 6' tall.  Twice, in my fatigue, I forgot to close the gate, and both times the deer got in during the night and browsed.  They did minimal damage, except for the trees they liked best: Leucantha retusa and the Jujube.  They stripped the Jujube leaves completely as high as they could reach.  Another thing surprised me.  Typically, when a tree loses most of its leaves for any reason, it will put on new leaves.  The Jujube did not.  It did have a "topknot" of leaves remaining, so maybe that was enough to prevent the "releaf" signal.  Hope this helps.

 

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz

----- Original Message -----

From: Harvey Ussery

To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 12:46 PM

Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] More on jujube

>
> One interesting note about Jujube: FWIW - Central Texas' Whitetail Deer seem to like Jujube better than just about any other tree.  If you have deer around, you might want to consider that aspect.
>
> E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
 
Thanks for that, Mitch. I was under the impression that jujube, since it
is thorny, would deter browsing. Not so? Is it the case that they just
browse the new growth, but not the older, more mature, thornier? Or do
they graze the tree (the mature tree, not young ones not fully
established) to the point of killing it? Please let me know what you
know on this subject, since I have a lot of deer and two jujubes
(planting more this fall) and have just written on this subject in an
article on living fences.

I have not myself had any problems with deer hitting my jujubes, though
they've been active in other areas of the homestead.

~Harvey

--
Harvey in northern Va
www.themodernhomestead.us

I truly believe that as long as we have not found peace with the soil, we won't find peace above the ground. That as long as we justify the exploitation of any organism, other exploitations will follow and we will remain parasites, consuming more than participating, and spiralling into entropy until we commit mass suicide.  ~Emilia Hazelip

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