Thursday 20th February, 2014.
We were invited to plant oak seedlings to reforest a
new park which is located in the outskirts of our city, Guadalajara. These lands
were formerly devoted to the growing of wheat and sunflower. Soil here is rich,
due to the fact that these lands are located next to the river Henares.
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus. Oaks are keystone
species in a wide range of habitats from Mediterranean semi-desert to
subtropical rainforest. In Spain, we can see them all over our landscape. They
make great shade underneath where soil is rich, and their fruits feed all sort
of wild animals and pigs, whose legs with black hooves are considered the best
ham in Spain (jamón de pata negra)
Seedlings were about 15 cms. tall, and they were all
planted one year ago, into small plastic containers which we had to remove. In
some of them, we could clearly see the acorn. The instructor told us that they
grow very slowly, so they will be approximately our height when they will be 20
years old (we will be 32 by then).
We were accompanied by a gardener who monitored the
process. First, we dug a deep hole in the ground, about the length of a forearm.
The purpose of digging around is to remove the hard soil and to break the hard lumps
of earth. Then we put the small plant in the center of the hole and cover its roots with another layer of soil, forming a funnel to get the most out of the water. At the end, we poured water from a tank and left the place very tired, waiting for returning soon to see how they have grown.
Thanks to the Association "Apadrina un árbol"(Sponsor a tree) for allowing us to reforest an area of Guadalajara.
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