working on the long line

We have used something like 32 posts for the house. All but one of these is Madre Cacao also known as Gliricidia sepium. So I sort of owe 32 trees by some sort of esoteric accounting.

The woodcutter delivered 32 sticks of Madre Cacao. Supposedly you can just push a stick of this tree into the ground, and it will put down roots, and send forth leaves. I am curious to see if that is true.


The thing about Gliricidia is that it is a very useful tree. It is what is called a multipurpose tree.

It is a legume tree, so it fixes nitrogen in the soil. It is also used to provide forage for livestock.

Here are some links:

Legume trees and other fodder trees as protein sources for livestock
Tree foliage in ruminant nutrition
The Agrobrief ‘FODDER TREES’ deals with trees and shrubs mainly or partially grown to
provide fodder for livestock.
Better Farming Series 42 - Using Fodder from Trees and Shrubs to Feed Livestock in the Tropics
Nitrogen Fixing Trees for Fodder Production - A Field Manual
THE NITROGEN FIXING TREE ASSOCIATION (NFTA) became part of Winrock International's FACT Net (Forest, Farm, and Community Tree Network) in January 1996. The FACT net is a resource for information on both nitrogen-fixing and non-N-fixing multipurpose trees.
2.2 Gliricidia sepium - a Multipurpose Forage Tree Legume


So with a bundle of long sticks in hand, the four of us set out to plant a fence line with these trees. This was a wonderful chance to break out our exercise equipment. Although you are supposed to be able to just stick this into the soil and have it grow, there is more rock than soil where we want the fence to be.







Enki just watched, but Canelo got into the spirit of things and dug some holes. Sadly the idea of keeping the holes underneath the string seemed beyond his comprehension.





We have made progress.




But it is progress down a path with an uncertain outcome.

I have serious doubts that this will work "as advertised". While technically this is the rainy season, aside from some downpours several weeks ago, we have had no rain. While I watched my little tomato plants shrivel up and vanish, I began to wonder if I should be learning more about gardening in arid regions. The beans survive, and somehow grow even without rain. But how much better would they be with some rain? Our corn is greatly behind other peoples corn, however if no one gets rain soon it will hardly matter.

More oppressive is that I just have trouble believing that these sticks will really grow regardless of the conditions. I put such doubts from my mind while we dig, as to think about it much would make the work harder.

And while we have made progress down this uncertain path, there is so much left to do. This is the line we intend to fence.





Obviously we will need more than the 32 sticks. Somewhere locked in the back of my mind is the idea that this long line is only one quarter of what should be fenced up.

There are two other species of trees that I want to try as living fence posts. The idea is that if they survive, after a few years they grow strong enough to staple barbed wire to them.

So that is what we did today, and yesterday. Hopefully we will get all of the sticks planted. Hopefully most of them will grow. Possibly we may someday fence that entire long line, and more.

Johnny rests, while Enki stands in a long hypnotic blissful moment.