Tough

Little oaks from great tree stumps grow.....

A trio of marvelous old trees once graced the entrance to a pair of the farthest back fields on the place. We are believers in hedgerows and old trees and sharing with the wild things, but those beauties grew so huge that it became impossible to get machinery into the fields.

They had to come down; we have to work the land in order to pay the taxes to keep it in agriculture...I hate to tell you how fast this place would be developed if we let go. There have been many offers over the years.....and to eat as well, a habit of which we have grown quite fond. 

Years ago they did, recycled into firewood, which is a truly renewable resource. Oak is slow to dry, but long to burn.....

Just how renewable trees are was made clear when Alan took me all the way to the back of the land on Sunday. It had been a while since I had been back there. It is a very long walk and I am slow. No saddle horses any more, and only one tractor, which is usually in use.

I was amazed to see that the two oak trees on the southern side of the gateway had resprouted. One is not going to amount to much, just a witch's broom of random twiggery.

However, the other one has thrust up a whole new trunk and branches right out of the heart of its parent tree. It isn't as easy to see as it might be, but if you look closely you can pick out the muscular young oak springing from the stump of the old tree.

That's tough!