Trees Planted

February 04, 2025 by Adam in Family

I'm a little tuckered out after three days of tree planting.  Saturday morning Emma and I took her truck out to Alton Baker Park to pick up nearly 300 trees.  We picked up 100 Douglas Fir, 100 Ponderosa Pine, and a mix of other firs based on what did well last year.  We headed home for a hearty breakfast that Jo cooked up, then the two of us headed to the farm, with Jo coming along a little later.  Jamie met us there for some tree planting fun.  We put in close to 100 trees around the flat central part of the farm.

The big news, which was really disheartening, was that apparently a herd of a couple hundred elk had come through and eaten over a hundred trees we planted last year.  We ran into the neighbor who estimated a couple hundred elk in the herd, and between the elk poop, hoofprints, and eaten grass and trees, there was plenty of evidence.  Hopefully I haven't just spent the last three days getting an elk salad bar ready.

We headed home somewhat early and Emma and I went to the library as a treat.

Sunday was just Emma and I going out, planting on the northern side of the property.  It rained a couple times, but was otherwise pleasant.  We put in a little over 50 trees there before heading home and taking it easy.

Monday was the final push, waking up early and heading out with the last of the trees.  I put on a podcast, took breaks for coffee and snacks, and kept going until all the trees were in the ground.  I didn't feel too bad, just tired and a little sore and after a nice bath felt pretty human again.  I took it easy, checked in with work, and started on dinner.  About halfway through that I started feeling really tired and was pretty wiped out for the rest of the night.

After a good night's sleep I feel mostly normal, back at work and looking forward to a day of working behind a computer.