A hodge podge of images that have been hanging around my drafts for few days too long, and some new ones.
The tile is now laid, will hopefully get it grouted this week.
And indeed we did, but I don't have a picture of it yet, except for this one I was trying to capture of Whitey.
The issue is that there is a group of tourists coming to our farm, from California, as part of an organized group. We didn't plan it or arrange anything, we will just do our part, half day tour of our farm and two more days helping with 'translation'.
But, with people coming we have to make sure the farm is looking good, which generally means everything is freshly pruned.... at the same time. A seemingly impossible task but we have some new tools (thanks Dad!).
I have talked a lot in previous posts about Cecropia Peltata, a tree that is native here but also including on the list of 100 most invasive species in the world. I love this tree, and prefer to let it grow and prune it later.
Cutting down with machete was always terrible because of its relationship with biting ants, who divebomb the offending machete wielder. But with this new tool, we can prune much faster, before the ants even notice.
I told the pullers that the tree will tell us when its ready, it creaks twice and the third is a snap. They used a guava tree to anchor their rope and not stand under the tree, but the advantage of the long saw is that the higher cut avoids such a long fall.
This was filmed by a visitor to the farm, and I will try to keep up in more of this short form documentation, which is fun and easy to post and to post about. The thing about this tree is that it becomes part of the attraction.
Let me show you this majestic photo from my wife, @ecoinstante of a bird in this tree:
Photo/Image © Ledis Arango V. 2020
These fruits are filled with seeds, and the birds love them. They are the ones that poop them all around and make them 'invasive'. But this tree is just a pioneer in a world of damaged ecosystems. And it is a powerful force for upward verticality in a living system, something I've been working on here in the middle Andes.