We pulled out a tree stump on Saturday. It was the strawberry tree next to the raised beds outside the kitchen window. It was a beautiful tree but very messy and providing shade where none was desired. 20 years old, 20 feet high, and over a foot in diameter. The roots were large and many. It took three guys over three hours to chop and dig away so that the tractor could pull it out. I decided to remove it last week after realizing that that space was where the outdoor fireplace should go, along with an extended patio. It is nice to have the luxury of studying, living with, building sites before designing structures. It makes for much better decisions, with vineyards and sheds and pools and ball courts and gardens and fences, etc. It is sad when a beautiful tree, 20 years in, is in the wrong place. But these strawberry trees, of which we still have 6 or 7, are very messy. We also pulled out 5 of these trees last year from the front yard, and had moved 7 of them 6-8 years ago, into much less tarvelled spaces. These other strawberry trees, however, were all dwarf versions, now maybe 10 feet high.
It is mid-June, and the tasks are irrigation, pruning and spraying the grapes, and weed control across the property. I have 19 years of rainfall records for this property. A good year is 24 to 28 inches is, measured July 1 to June 30, 22-26 inches. Almost all of our rain falls between October and April. This year (just now ending), we had 18 inches. A general rule I’ve heard from a local expert is that 30-35 inches is required for dry farming (i.e., no irrigation). Of course, that depends on the crop and the soil and the heat-stress weather. We do pretty well on 25” or so. Fortunately, our two major crops, grapes and olives, do not require a lot of water even in a dry year. But we have many trees and bushes, for landscaping as well as food, and 18 or so irrigation/drip lines, so drought years and plant survival are a worry for most of the property, not so much for olives and grapes.
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