permaculture

[Katey <newtribe@hughes.net>]

jedd wrote:
>  As to your annoyed trees - each spring in my area we typically get
>  a late frost that mildly irritates my figs (but remember, figs are
>  weeds) and confuses my mulberries (typically the last to burst,
>  strangely) - and they always bounce back.  Some or all of the
>  crop is lost, but the trees aren't.  Mind you, I was eating mulberries
>  off my tree a few weeks ago - and it's mid-autumn in my part of the
>  world.
>
>  Jedd.

They are a little more than annoyed.  We, too, frequently have a late 
frost that freezes the young growth of several early flowering species.

This was something different.  Here in Middle TN the early flowering 
understory trees were finished flowering a full 3-4 weeks ahead of the 
earliest dates i have witnessed before.  The oaks and hickories (and 
poplars and beeches) were wondering what the rush was, but they too 
finally succumbed to the temptation of the absurdly early warm weather. 
 The oaks and hickories had just let their pollen fly when we had 3 
nights in a row of hard freeze (still within our average last frost 
date).  The result is something i have never seen in 50 years of 
observation.  But, Kathy, if you look closely i'll bet you see some of 
those trees showing tiny starts of leaves here and there.  It is slow, 
and looking out through the woods it still looks more like late fall 
(brown, not orange), but up close i see tiny shoots of green coming out 
further down the branch.  Now what this means for the wildlife dependent 
on this oak-hickory forest is another question.  Especially here in my 
county where the forest has been clearcut at an alarming rate for the 
last 3 years.

Talking with some local indigenous people i learned that the last time 
this happened was 150 years ago.  I found that mildly encouraging. 
There has been a precedent and we made it through.  Hopefully this year 
will be challenging but not devastating to the local wildlife.

While writing in my journal the other day i wrote "2007, the Spring that 
Looked Like Autumn".  The indigenous people are calling 2007 "The Year 
of the Brown Spring".

TAPO - this will be quite a year for that.

~katey


Katey Culver
ecoville architechs
www.earthandstraw.net