The Ash family is in the Olive family of trees. They thrived here until the Emerald Ash Borer has about wiped them out. We were walking at Cowan Lake and the campers were sad the the state is taking out all the ash trees because of the borer. The campground will be naked.
What is the biggest tree at your place? I bet those trees could tell a whale of lifetime of stories if they could talk. I know this one could.
"Ohio’s Big Tree Program is a voluntary endeavor to locate, measure, record, and appreciate the largest tree species in our state. The Ohio Division of Forestry is pleased to provide a mechanism that promotes these living monarchs and their environmental legacy. Designation as a Big Tree, through this program, does not confer any special legal status, ownership, or protection.
You can help.
Ohioans can help find more champion-sized trees in back yards, community parks and cemeteries across the state. Big Trees are generally found in yards, parks, arboretums and cemeteries where their size stands out. They are less frequently found in dense forests where trees have much more competition for growth. The Division of Forestry accepts nominations for potential champions. Anyone can nominate a tree. When two trees of the same species are within 5 points of each other they are considered co-Champions. The deadline for entry is July 1 each year.
Nominating forms for Ohio’s Big Trees are available on this site.
Ohio is currently home to 10 national champion Big Trees on the Big Trees registry maintained by American Forests, a conservation organization based in Washington, D.C. Since 1940, American Forests has documented the largest known specimens of every native and naturalized tree in the United States. Each Big Tree receives a score based on trunk circumference, crown spread and total height."
Ed Winkle
Makes you think of all the pasture around here that is being turned into corn and bean ground.
ReplyDeleteStep 1 - bring in bulldozer and take out fences so the owner can go back to cows easy.
Step 2 - push all trees tote ditch
Step 3 spray with roundup and notill crop
I once cut a decaying chestnut oak on my back ridge that was the size of a pencil at the start of the American Revolution. Like you said, if only they could talk.
ReplyDeleteAsh leaves make great fodder and silage too.
ReplyDeleteI love big trees, feel so humble around them. Each big tree is really more than just one plant, it's host to millions of live organisms, below and above ground, it's a carbon sequestration device, an oxygen factory (is that where this usage of "plant" comes from?).
Careful, Ed, loving trees is a bit Pagan, your ash tree is a descendent from Yggdrasil.
You can harvest some of the sap between June and July, it has medicinal properties.
http://chestofbooks.com/health/reference/London-Medical-Dictionary/Manna.html
The leaves are still used today to make a lightly fermented (3.5°) refreshing cold drink, with some sugar and yeast in Normandy, North of France and Belgium, the "frênette". Originally, the only sweetener came from the leaves themselves, from the sap of the leaves and the sweet aphid poo present on the leaves. True!
You've got to love how the German for "other uses" appears on the wikipedia page for the ash tree: "Andere Verwendungsmöglichkeiten". ;)
Andere Verwendungsmöglichkeiten? How in the world would I pronounce that?
ReplyDeleteManna?
ReplyDeletehttp://chestofbooks.com/health/reference/London-Medical-Dictionary/Manna.html