Can we send the results to Buckingham Palace or something?
Wowed by whoever worked out how to do that...
Ok. Tonight's moral dilemma...
We can only reach about 4 of them come chestnut harvest time. The rest end up decomposing into mulch or getting eaten by our fat happy wombats.
We've just had a hillside terraced courtesy of a little earthmover thingy (dont watch enough Bob the Builder to know what its real name was..), to use as playground, chookpen and vegie patch (its all hill...).
There's a huuuge chestnut tree at the bottom of the terraced bit. Probably about 80 years old. Never been able to reach it to collect its chestnuts before but without them we're still eating chestnuts and giving them away for weeks on end till we're glad the season's over...
It's blocking light from the entire half acre. We're on the south side of the hill & sunlight is a precious commodity.
SO DO WE CHOP THE OLD SUNBLOCKER?
I was such an earnest conservationist before i moved here, I would have wept at the idea of murdering a magnificent fruiting 80 year old tree. Now all I can think about is a bit more sunlight and oh, stuff it, we have several more...
Am I going to hell?
Nup, dont think I can do it. We'll just have to plant veggies in the shade. Dont think I can justify murdering a tree for a few lettuce leaves.
I can't entertain the thought of tree chopping unless it is likely to topple & do some major damage.
ReplyDeleteThen again - is the chestnut a native tree? If it's an import - you may be doing the area a favour by replacing it with a native.
And I do love the sunlight on the clothes line -would a trim do?
p.s.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure someone at B'ham will be reading our blog already.
I say chop. if they're not native ... etc etc. you know the story.
ReplyDeletewe're forever getting terse letters from the council (WE GOTTA LETTA FROM THE COUNCIL!) here about the evils of exotics this close to world heritage tinder, so you have to assume you'd be doing the bush a favour?
hmmm
ReplyDeletere the native vs exotics debate...
no, they're not native.
But they're not a noxious weed, either. They're a fruit tree. Chestnuts go for at least ten bucks a kilo in these parts come chestnut season. There' a Dandy Ranges chestnut festival and everythink.
Also, it's very old folk lore, but one of the reasons early settlers planted so many exotics near their homes was because they work as fire retardant. This is not popular current practise, but I know of many peeps in Kinglake and Marysville who will tell you about their property and themselves being saved because their exotics didnt catch as quickly as their natives (which exploded)
We have acres of natives, but an old (80 years old) garden around the house- all elms, birches, oaks and chestnuts (rhododendrons & azaleas & hydrangeas...get the piccy..). We get a grant from the council to poison and clear all of the sycamore trees and blackberries, which are noxious weeds and kill the forest. But cherstnuts are still considered relative good guys. Hence my hesitation.
hmmm ... that does cast the matter in a slightly differently hued light. a sort of dark green, deciduous light.
ReplyDeleteon the strength of the history of your garden, and your house, it prolly is better to keep the whole thing intact. honouring the pioneers and their fire retarding prowess and such. besides, if you and mr pianoforte ever decide to opt out entirely, you could barter the surplus for good cheddar and pinot :D