Tree Power

When we first started using our packing shed, which used to be the milking parlor for the dairy that preceded us here, we had to deal with the problem of what to do with the vegetable wash water once we were through with it. Because we had neither much time or money then, we came up with the simple solution of creating a shallow basin where the drainpipe comes out and lining it with riparian trees. We planted a few potted sycamores along with willows and a cottonwood from cuttings. At first it was the willows that dominated in the perfect conditions there—heavy soils and continuous moisture. But as the willows began to sag with age and the sycamore seemed to suffer from a fungal pathogen that caused their leaves to curl and drop, it was the cottonwood that ultimately asserted itself. 

There are few things that make you aware of the passage of time more than witnessing a pencil-sized cutting turn into a magnificent, towering tree. Indeed, of all the improvements that we have made here over the years, I believe that planting trees has had the largest lasting impact. Not only do they tie up a significant amount of Carbon, they greatly improve the soil conditions around them by cycling nutrients—providing food in the form of dropped leaves and dead branches for the countless micro and macro organisms that in turn die and become food for the tree itself. Trees also provide perching and nesting places for birds and are the primary reason that the number of songbirds and raptors that we see here have steadily increased over the years.

Some time ago we explored the option of recycling the wash water from our packing shed so that we could irrigate with it. We were enrolled in a program with the Natural Resources Conservation Service which would have helped pay for and design such a system. In the end we decided not to go forward with the project mainly because it was too complex and expensive. We would have had to install storage tanks on concrete pads, an elaborate filtration system to get the impurities out, and a separate pump with its own electrical drop to reinject the water into our irrigation system.

Looking back I don’t regret that decision a bit. The trees do a magnificent job of recycling the water in their own way. There is zero run-off from the shed—the trees use it all. And in addition to tying up a large amount of carbon, the trees also reduce our energy use by shading the portion of our shed roof above our walk-in coolers. More often than not, the simple, elegant solutions are the best ones, and this was no exception.