2022 was certainly a challenging year for everything growing here at Clounsnaghta:

• Very dry conditions during most of the year
• A severe -7℃ cold snap at the end

The only thing missing was a severe gale, and interestingly there wasn’t much in the way of strong winds.

So now it is May 2023 and time to take a look at and see what has recovered, what grew despite everything and what won’t be coming back to life with the warmth and sunshine 🙁

I encouraged, that the vast majority have not only survived, but are thriving 🙂
A few that have succumbed, I will persevere with:

• Regnans
• Fastigata
• Leucoxylon which I neglect to mention in the video

I am describing this as a severe weather event due to the prolonged frost, eleven nights below zero, a couple below -5℃ The other factor that for me categorises this as severe was the freezing fog especially during the mornings on several days. On a few days all day !

The coldest temperature recorded in Ireland was way back in 1881, -19.1℃. During the freeze of 2010, the lowest temperature in Ireland was -17.5℃
Source Met Éireann

I couldn’t find any information pertaining to the average duration of frost periods, though other than the freeze of 2010 when I was in Scotland; I’d estimate less than five days, probably closer to the occasional day or two here and there.

So given that this was a particularly severe and unusual weather event, I am very pleased to report that the vast majority of my Eucalyputs trees are doing well.
The Paulownia are hardy to -20℃ and they are dormant at the moment, so no issues coping with -7℃ here.

The nice surprise is that the Regnans have done so well, and the disappointment, though not particularly a surprise is that the Robusta and Botryoides look like they have perished 😢 as I say in the video, I will persevere, this has been an unusually severe weather event.

I already had some inkling that trees regulate temperatures from reading some reports and watching a few videos; here’s the evidence 😉

Besides being a positive for farming, increasing the number of weeks per year livestock can graze outside, because it regulates temperature, it should reduce your energy / heating requirements during the winter, AC during the summer; an additional benefit to planting trees.

Eucalyptus grow fast and provided they are spaced far enough apart, will have access to nutrients and hydration required to enable them to retain their thick lush foliage.

There is a lot of overlap in the content I post to my web sites and social media, quite a lot about my weight gain and loss experience.
Besides the interesting information about the increased number of weeks livestock can graze during the year, what the gentleman in this video has to say about the micronutrients in food correlated with my own experience, i.e. I was malnourished because I wasn’t either the food I was eating didn’t contain enough of the nutrients I needed or my body wasn’t able to absorb them. Either way, other research I have done into mycorrhizal fungi suggests that fertiliser grown crops don’t establish mycelium networks and therefore don’t absorb the other nutrients that food should have as detailed in the video.

Today, the 9th of December 2022 is the first severe frost I have experienced while growing Eucalyptus here in Ireland. It’s about -5℃ and this cold and frosty weather is set to last another five or so days.

I’m confident that most of my Eucalyptus trees will be fine, and the freezing temperatures may actually be helpful and kill most of the Psyllid, larvae and 🤞🏻eggs as well 😁 though there are a few varieties that might be borderline survival 🙁
Only time will tell…

The cold frosty weather can be very beautiful and although there was quite a lot of freezing fog first thing this morning, it was a magical experience 🙂

The fog soon burnt off and it was a crisp blue sky day

The end of the growing season for the Paulownia for sure, with most of the leaves having fallen off, a slight frost and the rest turned Black and then shrivelled and turned brown.

The Eucalyptus carry on regardless, so although I am very curious to see how the Paulownia develop, I am still very much a fan of Eucalyptus and increasingly so:

• To start with I was growing the Eucalyptus and the Paulownia for firewood. I won’t give up on the Paulownia just yet, though the Eucalyptus are so far much better at growing sustainable fuel.
• Floral foliage wasn’t something I’d considered, though it is very popular
• Flowers for bee’s. I’ve had quite a lot of flowers in the last year from my Eucalyptus and the bees love them 🐝 with the Paulownia renowned for masses of purple flowers in early spring, another reason I am not giving up on the Paulownia.
• Constructional timber 🤔 both Eucalyptus and Paulownia provide good quality timber with varied uses and as I am very keen on my wood working project, I look forward to trying to mill and use my own home grown timber 😉

The Fox

Those of you who have followed along in the last twelve months will have noticed videos featuring my tame fox which I now think may be pregnant, its certainly become quite fat in the last four to six weeks !

The fox isn’t just for amusement, those it has been great to have it come visit.

There are Hares around here, and I love seeing them as well, though Paulownia are particularly palatable, and I doubt I would have had anything left with out the presence of the fox.
Lets consider the economics 🤔

• The fox has been 100% effective at keeping the Hares away
• It costs perhaps €5 max per week to feed the fox a few hard boiled eggs and the occasional chicken; it also gets the left over bread and other scraps from the kitchen including cheese.
• I have around a hundred Paulownia, so if I was buying tree guards, around €3 each and I doubt they would be 100% effective as Hares like other animals looking for a meal can be very determined.

So the fox is good economics 😉 as well as being fun to have around 😁

A very wet October and that looks to continue during November.
The forecast today is for 50kph sustained winds with gusts of 100kph 😧 I don’t think we are actually getting that here, more like 40kph and perhaps gusts of 80kph. Still a strong gale.

As I’ve said before, its not just the wind which is a factor affecting how well Eucalyptus and for that matter all trees fare during storms, its also the moisture in the ground. One benefit of this years dry spring and summer is that the Eucalyptus will have been forced to grow their roots in search of hydration, so I’m hopeful they will be even more wind resilient this year.

Despite the dry conditions, very little precipitation during the spring and summer, everything continues to grow, with the Eucalyptus Regnans, Nitens and other varieties putting on considerable growth in a year 😮
There’s been a considerable increase in the amount of Eucalyptus flowers that have bloomed this year and many more of the Eucalyptus trees have developed flower buds, so I am expecting even more flowers next year.

I’ve started experimenting with Paulownia and Robinia Pseudoacacia.
Initially I’d hoped the Paulownia would produce rapid growth and good firewood fuel, though now don’t think they will be a major contributor to my renewable energy needs. Instead I think they will provide biodiversity and an abundance of flowers during the early spring.
So far I have only planted a few Robinia, Black Locust, though like the Paulownia some expectation of firewood and a high likelihood of increased biodiversity and an early blooming flowers.

I’ve started on my journey towards growing more of my own food, and part of the preparation involves digging out the pond area and using the soil for the salad beds in the poly tunnel.
Pleased to be making a start on this, the fresh food will help me with other goals I have set myself, and digging out the pond area and establishing a pond for wildlife will further increase biodiversity 🙂

Its always going to be a value judgment as to when the best time of year to plant Eucalyptus trees is 🤔

What I can say is that I don’t sell, or plant bare rooted trees, so they can be planted at any time of year 😉
I did get luck with my planting in the video below as it rained heavily the next day and is forecast to rain for the next few.

If it is dry, then providing the plantation isn’t too big or inaccessible, then you can water artificially if it is very dry.

Once thing I would definitely recommend is some shelter from the winter gales and this is going to be an ongoing focus for my plantation, i.e. deciduous companion trees, particularly fast growing hybrid poplar to take the sting out of the worst of the cold winter gales.

With actual Mahogany going for around €1500 per cubic metre, there must surely be a market for a good alternative 🤔

I did attempt to grow Eucalyptus Robusta a couple of years ago without much success, though I would put the failure down to the area where it was planted. A very exposed part of my small patch of land where the ground isn’t particularly wet; Eucalyptus Robusta’s common name is “Swamp Mahogany” which will give you a good indication of the conditions it prefers.
Anyways I looked for a more hardy alternative and came across Eucalyptus Botryoides which is claimed to be slightly more hardy and adaptable 🤞🏼
I didn’t get a good germination from the Robusta this year, so the four additional ones I planted in the new area were all I had. I haven’t given up on Robusta, the foxes or the rats dug up most of the winter planting, but one remains and although blasted by the strong winds is is now recovering fast and putting out good strong basal growth. This is in contrast to the one I planted a couple of summers ago up on the bank which although it tried putting out new growth, was always weak.

So why am I so keen on Eucalyptus as a Mahogany substitute ?
My interest is commercial, say you plant some shelter with tall Hybrid Poplar and perhaps some lower, but fast growing trees to give even better protection while the Robusta and Botryoides establish, then a potential return on investment of €10,000 per acre per year 😁

Say you plant 400 trees and with the companion tree protection, at least 250 of these live till they are 10 years old and produce 2m³ per tree, this is conservative, both of these mahogany substitutes are fast growing and could reach a height of up to 20m in ten years.
So 2m³ per tree and 250 trees, 2 * 250 * €1500 = €750,000 in 10 years 😁 €75,000 per year per acre 😮

Let’s not get too enthusiastic ! this isn’t actual Mahogany, though Botryoides it is very high quality dark red hardwood and is currently grown commercially for constructional timber.

Lets be very conservative, unless you have a shop or retail outlet, you aren’t going to get €1,500 per cubic metre 🙁 Say around €800 here in Ireland if it was actual Mahogany and as this isn’t actual Mahogany, let’s say around €400 per cubic metre.
American White Oak currently goes for around €4,500 per cubic metre retail, high quality timber does command high quality prices 🙂

€400 * 250 trees = €100,000 / 10 years = €10,000 per year per acre gross without subsidy.

NOTE I am not including any planting, harvesting, transportation or processing costs, though ALSO NOTE that I am not taking into account large inflationary pressure on timber prices, rapid deforestation or other environmental pressures which may impact the rising cost of constructional timber.

So all in all I am personally convinced this is worth a punt, the initial costs are low and the potential earnings in the not particularly long term, ten years to harvesting are substantial 😉