More thinking is needed for planting trees

In our area, between Dec and Feb is a good period for planting trees, and I have been busy in preparing the planting activities. But when I compare making a mobile phone to planting trees, it seems to me that planting trees need more de Bono's thinking.

The following are some of the reasons:

(1) Each tree is different (Difference between two mobile phones of the same model is insignificant, except the defect units)

(2) Soils and local soil microbes are different (Materials and components for making two mobile phones of the same model are basically the same)

(3) Weather changes (Processing and assembly conditions for two mobile phones of the same model are basically the same)

(4) Covering a large area and difficult to monitor (Plantation area is orders of magnitude larger than a factory)

The staff in planting trees needs more thinking if we want to have forests of better quality (i.e. more wood per area, more CO2 sequestration, less easy to catch fire) when the staff are dealing with all these variations.

Any experience in using de Bono tools for mid-aged farmers?

[Any comments are welcome. I believe this blog will help me to think and find a better approach.]

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Comment by Free Willy on March 7, 2011 at 8:14: "Control oil and you control nations. Control food and you control the people." Henry Kissinger 1974

This is how big corporations control our food supplies (probably using de Bono tools).

Part 1: http://rt.com/programs/documentary/food-agriculture-hunger-price/

Part 2: http://rt.com/programs/documentary/food-agriculture-hunger-price-2/

Comment by Raymund Kwok on March 6, 2011 at 12:02: Sorry for not coming back for some weeks as I used up the spare time for the tree activities. When we plant trees, we actually need to dip a hole, put the fertilizers and then put the seedlings, as shown below.

The specifications for the hole is 60cm x 60 cm x 60cm, and for the fertilizer is 1kg. We need to put fertilizer at the bottom of the hole and covered by soil. The seedling should be put 5-10cm above the fertilizer. We also have other requirements, including spacing.

But these specifications are mostly not meet during actual plantation. So, we have a mix of seed variations, plantation variation, and soil variations. I will not be able to tell later what to improve in the future. In next year, I will prepare a tool to dig the hole and install into a tractor. I will also find a way to analyze the soil.

Comment by Cal on January 22, 2011 at 0:11: Mobile phones are about communicating through sending signals through the air. Franis' story is about 'communicating' the seeds through the air with Blue Jays. So could you 'communicate' the trees that way. Eg. - tree bombing is one way: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/old-military-planes-drop-90...

How else could it be done that way. Eg. 'Implant' bubbles that would last for a time with seeds, and let the winds carry the seed carrying bubbles? Could it be one way to plant harder to reach areas, such as up on slopes? If the bubbles 'collapsed' and followed down with the seeds, could the bubbles be partially made of nutrients and such to help get trees started?

Comment by Franis on January 21, 2011 at 18:46: A lifelong friend of mine, Rick Ryan, (who now lives in Gold Beach, OR) came up with a brilliant idea from watching his own backyard eco-system for planting trees. At the time, he lived at the source of the seasonal river that ran through what is now Mission Valley, in San Diego, CA

Historically in this area, acorns used to be the food staple for native Americans before the Spanish invaded. My friend learned to recognize the rocks that had been used as plentiful grinding tools to process the acorns. Once the Spaniards realized what a plentiful food source this area was for the locals, they burned the oak trees to "encourage" the hunter-gathering Indians to become dependent on the missions - where the Indians were put to work farming and tending cattle.

In more recent times, oak trees in the area had been dying off from "Sudden Oak Death Syndrome." So my friend decided it would be nice to have more oak trees in his area. But he was barred from planting trees personally in certain places, because the area behind his house was a public park.

From watching the behavior of the local scrub blue jay in his backyard, my friend got this idea.

He gathered acorns from a healthy source, soaked perhaps a hundred acorns and mounted the acorns in a basket on a pole in front of his upstairs window. The jays went crazy over their yummy food source. After eating their fill, the jays scratched holes and "hid" the excess acorns in the leafy humus in about a mile circumference near the basket.

Next winter rains came, and the acorns that were forgotten by the jays who had buried them sprouted into baby oak trees.

So - free planting labor and a nice show at the basket while the jays were fighting over the juicy acorns! The only catch was that the jays tended to "plant" in a limited area near the mounted acorns.