#streambank

[mambo68]

Ikva stream bank.

[ahedderick]

The leaning swamp willow has shifted from its acute angle two years ago to nearly horizontal.

   It is, however, somewhat propped up on two branches that are holding it from collapsing further. Lots of swamp willows (Salix nigra) collapse sideways as a reproductive strategy. Once the trunk is on the ground new roots form along it, and the branches that are in the air become trunks of new trees. It’s an interesting process. How many trees just say, “I’m tired, going to lie down and have a permanent nap, now.”? Hmm. Goals, maybe.

[mambo68]

Ikva stream bank.

[ahedderick]

   While this tree info is specific to our county, I’m going to assume there are plenty of other areas where the local Department of Natural Resources (or whatever name they go by in other states) have similar programs. For anyone thinking of planting some trees this Spring, now is the time to be looking around for give-aways and info like this!

   Our county has benefited from some very large-scale streamside plantings in the last twenty years, and we can drive around and see young forests in areas that used to be bare, eroding streambanks. We plants several acres like this on our farm (not through this program, but a larger one). The oldest planting was done in 2004, and the bald cypress and sycamore are getting impressively tall!

Jan 31, 2022

[ahedderick]

[ID: A three meter tall elderberry bush crammed in between stems of swamp willow. It is full of ripe berries. Second photo, closeup of the umbels of berries with a hand picking them. Third photo, a steel bowl of tiny, black berries sitting on a stovetop with a half gallon glass jar of apple extract sitting beside it. Fourth photo, a stainless steel cookpot full of berries and juice. Fifth photo, a quart mason jar of dark purple elderberry juice.]

   This excellent elderberry bush is growing in a flood-mitigation site in our county a couple of miles from my house. There used to be houses in this area, but most of them were bought and removed after a series of floods. There were trees planted several different spots along the stream*, and this elderberry seems to have showed up on its own, either planted by bird or animal droppings.

   The jar of greenish juice is extract from boiling unripe apples. I’ve been using it to add extra flavor to lemonade and also to ‘bulk up’ berry jam. It can help in the jam-making process by adding pectin (to make the jam set) and also by making a small batch of berries stretch a little farther!

   I also saved a couple dozen of the elderberries to plant, because the parent bush is so excellently healthy and productive. When I find a wild bush with unusually good genetics, it seems like a good idea to give it plenty of children and spread those genes around the valley a bit!

August 26, 2021

* Which, by the way, has worked very well, and the area has not had such bad flooding issues since the project was done. They restored a more natural, rock-filled streambed in some places where it had previously been more of a culvert, put in a bunch of tree plantings, and removed as many houses as they could. It worked!

[ahedderick]

Feels like spring today

   No cutting o’ the brush this morning, I am off to transplant some daffodils and iris. I’m not sore from yesterday’s events, though, and I’m grateful. Some highlights from yesterday:

Small rocks and pebbles, we all love them. I used to sit with the kids here when they were little and they’d look and look for fossils, unusually colored ones, beach glass, or cool shapes.

Curly the willow managed to get taller than I am last summer, despite having a sycamore tree fall on it. I am hoping it will put on a burst of growth this year.

This is the area where I spent way too much time pulling small thornbushes up like weeds. They grow abundantly, and it takes several years of keeping after them to really consider the area cleared. Hopefully I’ll get some elderberry and smaller willow species started here.

Mar 2, 2022

[ahedderick]

Death to thorn bushes

   I’ve been working on cutting down the thorns near the creek. I had about half of that area cleared when the kids were little, but since they are older now and not playing in the creek like kids, it has started to grow back up. I spent about three hours clearing a section that I hope will have some morels later this month. We’ve found them down there before, and removing the invasive species can only help them spread.

   It’s semi-pleasant work when the temps are cool and the cats and dogs are scampering around keeping me company. I’ll be planting some elderberry,  Streamco willow and pussy willow to help stabilize the bank and some wildflowers for the bees and hummingbirds. Those types of shrubs stay in ‘clumps’ and don’t turn into an entangled, impassible hedge like the multiflora rose does.

April 12, 2021

[ahedderick]

[ID: A creek about 3 meters wide running very high and fast after too much rain. There are tall weeds, trees, and bushes along the side of the water.]

   Hello, I would like *LESS* rain, please. Maybe put it off until we’re feeling very dry in August?

Pea Vine Run, running fast and high.