Cheesy Tesla Sales Call - to "make sure I'm on the right electric rate plan"

[KarenRei]

Is the whole country like that, or do you live in an unusually windy part? If your engineer was complaining, I assume he doesn't normally have to deal with those kinds of conditions.

Whole country is very windy, but my landscape magnifies it. Katabatic winds augment the extratropical cyclones that pass through.

The big windstorms are mainly in the winter/early spring thing, though.

 

[mspohr]

Hurricane force every winter, sometimes multiple times per winter. Had one year where the gusts got up to Cat 5 strength. Tossed a shipping crate on my land (full of tonnes of steel, timber, glass, etc) around like playtoy.

Yeah, it's pretty windy here. Just today my engineer was complaining about the standards he was going to have to engineer the windows for my house to, given the location

Some trees would help but I assume there is a reason they don't grow there. :-\

 

[KarenRei]

Some trees would help but I assume there is a reason they don't grow there. :-\

Sheep.

I'm working on it, but it'll take 1-2 decades to have a meaningful effect.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Sheep.

I'm working on it, but it'll take 1-2 decades to have a meaningful effect.

At least that, I'd expect. They'll need to be rather stout to survive those winds, thus slow growing and ultimately always keeping low to the ground. Then you'll have a relatively muted annual growing season.

The wind direction, at least of the strongest ones, is fairly fixed I assumed? So you'll have trees like this:

So there were native trees before the introduction of sheep and longterm the sheep lead to their extinction because they didn't allow new saplings to reach maturity?

 

[daniel]

Do you mind if I ask what you do there?

 

[KarenRei]

At least that. They'll need to be rather stout, thus slow growing and ultimately always keeping low to the ground

Nah, just sufficiently dense, and of hardy varieties, both natives and things from other cold, windy climates (particularly parts of Alaska) - douglas fir, sitka spruce, western hemlock, rowan, various birch, poplar, larch, willow, etc.

Dense planting compensates for limited size

The wind direction, at least of the strongest ones, is fairly fixed I assumed?

It varies, but it's strongest coming from two particular directions. It's in a valley, with my land predominantly near the base of the valley but right before it drops into my canyon, which continues (along with the valley) out to Hvalfjörður and the Atlantic.

So there were native trees before the introduction of sheep and longterm the sheep lead to their extinction because they didn't allow new saplings to reach maturity?

Depends on how far back you want to go. Early in the island's history there were even redwoods here! Forests were part of our history for so long that we have meaningful coal depots in places. The environment steadily transitioned to a more traditional northerly conifer forest, but the conifers went extinct during a relatively recent glaciation and were replaced by the pre-settlement birch forests. These covered about a quarter of the island at settlement period. And yes, while forestry helped deplete them, the main reason they were almost entirely lost was sheep. Which - combined with overgrazing - led to heavy erosion (have several landslide zones on my land, where the land is lubricated by underground streams, which are very common here due to our porous rock and glacial till). And it depleted the soil, too. I did some soil tests on the sandy/gravely parts of my land where little grew except for the occasional patch of crowberries and lamb grass (my land varies from place to place, a mix of fields, sand/gravel pans, and peat bogs / iron bogs). On the test, normal phosphorus levels were supposed to be 30-60. Mine measured in at 5 :Þ Spent a lot of time this summer spreading phosphorus fertilizer, and it's great seeing all of the little dark green plants starting to emerge on their own. And starting their work toward sequestering carbon in the almost organics-devoid ground there.

Modern forestry uses some native species, but more often Alaskan species, because while they're slower to get established, they grow faster and taller once they do. And sheep don't bother them as much (sheep adore birch, willow and aspen leaves). The general attitude is... no tree is going to become "invasive" in this climate, and even if they did, people would be more than glad to cut them down And basically, "some forest is better than no forest". It's easier to start with the easiest species to grow, and then if desired a later date, you can clear that and replant with native sif you so choose.

Sheep are a real pain for me because - not living on my land yet - I can't constantly chase them out when they get into my land. And it's almost impossible to keep them out, I've practically given up. It's too hard to maintain a fence on the canyon slopes or stop them from crossing or going down the river. So I'm focusing more now on conifers, even though their longer juvenile periods are a pain. With most local broadleafs you can start them from clippings, which gives you a head start.

Hmm, need to remember to collect some rowan berries this year (rowan is broadleaf but can't readily be started from clippings). They also have an annoyingly long juvenile period, but they're really beautiful trees once they get established.

 

[ℬête Noire]

The general attitude is... no tree is going to become "invasive" in this climate, and even if they did, people would be more than glad to cut them down

That makes a lot of sense, trees are going to be in slow motion. What are the Alaskan species that are being used?

P.S. Had the birch forrest manage to establish itself in this area? Birch aren't the most fragile tree but if those level of winds are that regular that's a lot of pressure on them.

 

[mspohr]

Nah, just sufficiently dense, and of hardy varieties, both natives and things from other cold, windy climates (particularly parts of Alaska) - douglas fir, sitka spruce, western hemlock, rowan, various birch, poplar, larch, willow, etc.



It varies, but it's strongest coming from two particular directions. It's in a valley, with my land predominantly near the base of the valley but right before it drops into my canyon, which continues (along with the valley) out to Hvalfjörður and the Atlantic.

Depends on how far back you want to go. Early in the island's history there were even redwoods here! Forests were part of our history for so long that we have meaningful coal depots in places. The environment steadily transitioned to a more traditional northerly conifer forest, but the conifers went extinct during a relatively recent glaciation and were replaced by the pre-settlement birch forests. These covered about a quarter of the island at settlement period. And yes, while forestry helped deplete them, the main reason they were almost entirely lost was sheep. Which - combined with overgrazing - led to heavy erosion.

Modern forestry uses some native species, but more often Alaskan species, because while they're slower to get established, they grow faster and taller once they do. And sheep don't bother them as much (sheep adore birch, willow and aspen leaves). The general attitude is... no tree is going to become "invasive" in this climate, and even if they did, people would be more than glad to cut them down And basically, "some forest is better than no forest". It's easier to start with the easiest species to grow, and then if desired a later date, you can clear that and replant with native sif you so choose.

Sheep are a real pain for me because - not living on my land yet - I can't constantly chase them out when they get into my land. And it's almost impossible to keep them out, I've practically given up. It's too hard to maintain a fence on the canyon slopes or stop them from crossing or going down the river.

Another ill effect of animal production. The sooner we move to a plant based diet, the better for our health and the environment.

 

[KarenRei]

P.S. Had the birch forrest manage to establish itself in this area? Birch aren't the most fragile tree but if those level of winds are that regular that's a lot of pressure on them.

Our native birch species are a pretty dang hardy bunch Also remember that a tree doesn't stand alone. Trees growing together create a windbreak "bubble" of slow-moving air, with the main stream moving over them.

(I edited the above post listing some of the species, incl. those from Alaska)

Here's what a mature birch forest here looks like:

But the conifers - once established - grow faster and higher:

Another ill effect of animal production. The sooner we move to a plant based diet, the better for our health and the environment.

Heh, well, sheep are definitely not the low-hanging fruit here, in terms of getting people to give things up. Start with whale. Lamb is probably the last thing they'd give up.

We also have significant cattle and horse grazing, but they're not as bad for the ground (particularly the horses, which are both raised for riding and for meat here - only cattle are widely raised for milk).