I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

(Joyce Kilmer)

-- Mal

"The Trees"


There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw

Rush - 1978

And have a fifth being grafted to order to plant next spring, and plan to add one or two more next year as well. All planted to date are fruit bearing trees that the local wildlife seem to enjoy. Besides the fruit aspect, though, I wanted to create more of a 'habitat' area in my yard, adding a half dozen bushes and a couple of raspberry patches as well. At some point, I'd like to add a small pond as well.

But turned around and planted a few thousand pines, oaks, dogwoods and cedars.

When we bought our farm, there were areas with scrubby oaks growing so close together you couldn't see through them. We thinned out those areas, and also cut down some trees that were unhealthy or in places where they were in the way. Back then, the Forestry Department sold bare root seedlings in bunches for about $10 a bunch - 1000 pines, 500 dogwoods, 1000 red cedars got planted in the first few years. A couple of years later a neighbor split a bunch of hybrid oaks. We also bought some small sycamore trees, hollies, and a green ash. Each year we'd buy a live tree for the holidays and planted it after the first of the year.

Now 35 years later there are more trees on this ridge than there were when we bought the place and they are healthier than those original trees we took out. With 60 acres we have lots of room for trees. In fact the 30 acres at the bottom of the ridge that is lowland is completely forested and has a native stand of American beech trees that is unusual in Florida - one was the Champion American beech of Florida for a while, but they found a specimen tree that is larger.

acreage. I've got something like 1/5th of an acre I think it is. Not too much room to add any more trees beyond what I've got planned unless I want to skip having a garden.

Now, I wouldn't be able to afford it. In fact one of my main worries is how to hang on to it, between taxes and upkeep.

I wish I could have a garden, but with the deer, birds, raccoons and other critters, it's impossible. The deer walk right up to my house to eat out of the bird feeders and ignore me if I yell at them. They know we're not going to shoot them and they have no fear.

I might look into moving to one of the states without property taxes. But that still potentially leaves county or municipality type property taxes as a possibility, I think. I'd enjoy watching the deer walk up to the place. Around here, the biggest wildlife I see in the yard is the occasional possum, racoon or rabbit. Or a groundhog once or twice. Those are a lot less common.

I got a blueberry bush, will plant soon. A gardener friend said wait two more weeks.

I put in 4 pines last fall.

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UNDER a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands