Commitment

I figure it's a good sign that one is committed to a home when one starts planting trees on the property. A young tree stands about as far as possible from instant gratification.

In June, to celebrate Gwendolyn's arrival in our home, I planted a sweet cherry tree across the creek from the house:

Within the first two weeks, deer came and nibbled off all the shoots. Sigh. So I put a fence around it. I went out to check on it yesterday and discovered that some insect had not only decimated the shoots again, but had made the leaves look like old Swiss cheese. Double sigh. There's always next year.

In hope that perhaps the first experiences of the cherry tree will not become a trend, I planted a black walnut seedling gifted to me by our friends Richard and Phyllis. here it is, with fence immediately in place:

This tree stands in the middle of our yard, on the edge of a brown patch that used to be our strawberry bed. We have since moved the strawberries to a raised bed; so we hope that this circle of dirt will soon (in a scale of years) become mowable lawn.

One more (baby)step towards the yard we envision.

In thirty-five to fifty years, the black walnut may be good for quality furniture lumber. Just trying to think ahead.

~emrys