Sequestering carbon by land restoration and reforestation in Iceland

[KarenRei]

I pause for a second to watch the neighbor trying (with difficulty) to round up some sheep. They look like the sheep that I chased into the mountains the other day

I finish getting up to the cliff edge, and decide to scout out below it. I *really* want to fence off this expanse of sloping grass, as it'd be great for broadleafs. But I'm just so concerned about the rocks that underlay it, and what lies beyond.

It gets worse as I near the bend.

Then worse (you can make out the preexisting fence (blurry) in the distance where it meets the river)

I mean, just look at this ground. It'd be horrible trying to get through here.

I just don't think it's smart to do that. I'll take the upper route, but dip down as low as I realistically can in the process.

I head up to the post depot, place a marker post to make sure I go in the right direction, then head back.

I get about 60% of the way through the grassy slope, and start heading a bit up the next shallow ridge.

The view from the marker post at the top of the ridge. Note the fence. Not that much further! Still, not enough posts to make it all the way; there's only half a dozen left at the depot.

I fetch some of the posts from the depot and drop them off, then head back to the car with the saw in hand. The sun is setting (note, for a sense of brightness: the above photo is overexposed, while the below is underexposed)

I probably could have worked for another half hour again, but I needed to get back to get to the grocery store before it closed.

----

The weather forecast is great until Thursday, when a storm is supposed to come in. I realistically only have one more evening's worth of posts to pound. I could switch to net at that point. On Wednesday I'll be off work, so I plan to get some more posts then; thankfully, it shouldn't take too many more. After all the posts are in.... net! Net will be a ton of work in its own right, but, hey... that's that!

 

[Lessmog]

After all the posts are in.... net! Net will be a ton of work in its own right, but, hey... that's that!

Do take care of your hands, though! Wear gloves, and maybe wait until they heal to do further work. At least stick a plaster on.
Else ... gross!

 

[KarenRei]

Plasters on both hands right now

 

[Lessmog]

Plasters on both hands right now

That's right. Else you may not have any left.

 

[KarenRei]

So, I get out to my land on another beautiful day. Since I'm in a new area, I do a sweep for downed trees (I find none inside the fence, but some pines planted in the area of the fence east of my land that's still on my property had been uprooted). The sun is low but not setting.

I go to gather my last.... two posts? Sigh... I bring them down and set them with the other three posts. Five? Come on... I go and grab the marker post and replace it with a little gate post. Six... still not much. Heck, by the time I even remember to take a picture, I'm already half done :Þ

And not long later, totally done :Þ

But at least I'm getting close.

I pace out the distance. 19 posts missing. Plus diagonals for all the way along the fence,, but honestly, I'm thinking about waiting on those until next year because of the added cost. :Þ On the other hand, I'm going to have some steel posts in surplus. Good to have in case I need to replace the flimsy ones on the crumbling slope.

And... that's all I can do? It doesn't occur to me until I'm halfway home that I could have spent the rest of the workable light (admittedly not a ton) carrying net rolls down. I feel like I've done so little. I mean, even six posts is a workout with that post pounder, but I don't feel like I even burned off the white chocolate raspberry almonds that I ate on the way there :Þ

And what, only five photos? Seriously? Um... I need more... um... how about some cows? Yeah, cows are good. Moo.

Well, that's that :Þ

------

Tomorrow I'm going to be at work so I won't be able to get more posts, but I'll be off Wednesday. Which means that... realistically... tomorrow I'm going to have to do something which I really don't want to do, and was hoping to never have to do again:

Change the oil on my car :Þ

Don't laugh.

 

[KarenRei]

Just an update: I bought 25 more posts yesterday, and planned to start driving them in, but I accidentally knocked my rearview mirror off with one of the posts. :Þ So I epoxied it back, but it was taking way longer to dry than I expected... must have been a rather slow and/or old epoxy, combined with the low temperatures outside. And since the poles were what I was using to hold the mirror up while it dried, it kept me from going out. :Þ

Today is a storm day. I went out to unload the posts, but with the wind and rain, I wasn't about to try to do anything other than toss them over the fence.

I'll be working tomorrow and over the weekend :Þ Next full day off, Monday. But I may try to do some short evening sessions if the weather cooperates... as much as the light allows for.

 

[Lessmog]

Just an update: I bought 25 more posts yesterday, and planned to start driving them in, but I accidentally knocked my rearview mirror off with one of the posts. :Þ So I epoxied it back, but it was taking way longer to dry than I expected... must have been a rather slow and/or old epoxy, combined with the low temperatures outside. And since the poles were what I was using to hold the mirror up while it dried, it kept me from going out. :Þ

Today is a storm day. I went out to unload the posts, but with the wind and rain, I wasn't about to try to do anything other than toss them over the fence.

I'll be working tomorrow and over the weekend :Þ Next full day off, Monday. But I may try to do some short evening sessions if the weather cooperates... as much as the light allows for.

Could that be the Unseen Hand Of Destiny trying to make you slow down and not incur any further injuries?
Who can tell. Epoxy on those who try! Stick the poles in the pole vault for the duration.

 

[Bet TSLA]

Hmm. Maybe there's another interesting carbon sequestration mechanism:
Hemp is the New Oak: America’s First Hemp “Wood” Factory is Being Built
Apparently there have been attempts to grow hemp in Iceland:
https://www.icelandreview.com/news/hemp-grown-iceland
I assume there must be something newer out there.

I imagine that Iceland doesn't have much in the way of lumber production, so hemp fiber into "wood" might be useful in that way too.

 

[KarenRei]

Could that be the Unseen Hand Of Destiny trying to make you slow down and not incur any further injuries?
Who can tell. Epoxy on those who try! Stick the poles in the pole vault for the duration.

I give the Hand of Destiny the middle finger! Hehehe

(The storm continues today... mainly a windstorm currently... should be cleared tomorrow, hopefully)

Hmm. Maybe there's another interesting carbon sequestration mechanism:
Hemp is the New Oak: America’s First Hemp “Wood” Factory is Being Built
Apparently there have been attempts to grow hemp in Iceland:
Hemp Grown in Iceland
I assume there must be something newer out there.

I imagine that Iceland doesn't have much in the way of lumber production, so hemp fiber into "wood" might be useful in that way too.

I once met a tourist who insisted that they could see pot growing wild all over Iceland. They were so convinced. I can only guess that from a distance / out their car window, they were confusing hemp...

for this (Nootka Lupine), before the blooming season:

Iceland is actually en route to being self-sufficient for lumber production. Probably a decade or so until that point. Although that's only possible because we have one of the lowest population densities on Earth, e.g. we don't use that much lumber. Compounded with the fact that we generally don't use wooden houses (they're overwhelmingly concrete). Wooden housing is mainly used in the form of little summer cabins in the countryside.

 

[capster]

Just read the book ‘Wilding’ by Isabella Tree (Wilding: Returning Nature to Our Farm|NOOK Book).

From the review I posted on the B&N site:
"This is the story of a conservation project to 'rewild' a farm in Britain. It is an inspiring and engaging book.

The author and her husband return their farm to nature by allowing nature for the most part to take its course over the course of almost two decades. An amazing renewal takes place with a very large number of plant, insect, and animal species returning to inhabit their land."

I’ve been toying with the idea that, when TSLA does take off, I might undertake a restoration project. This book has changed what kind of project I might choose and how I might do it. Ms. Tree is very knowledgeable about conservation from both a hands on perspective as well as the wider scientific and political contexts.

Knepp, the place described, also sounds like a really cool place to visit.

 

[Frank Einstein]

Just read the book ‘Wilding’ by Isabella Tree (Wilding: Returning Nature to Our Farm|NOOK Book).

From the review I posted on the B&N site:
"This is the story of a conservation project to 'rewild' a farm in Britain. It is an inspiring and engaging book.

The author and her husband return their farm to nature by allowing nature for the most part to take its course over the course of almost two decades. An amazing renewal takes place with a very large number of plant, insect, and animal species returning to inhabit their land."

I’ve been toying with the idea that, when TSLA does take off, I might undertake a restoration project. This book has changed what kind of project I might choose and how I might do it. Ms. Tree is very knowledgeable about conservation from both a hands on perspective as well as the wider scientific and political contexts.

Knepp, the place described, also sounds like a really cool place to visit.

Can't wait to read that book -- it sounds like it's right up my street. Thanks for recommending it. I was massively inspired by this book about rewilding by George Monbiot -- and then again by Karen's project. I'm waiting to become a little more financially stable (both for myself/my wife and for our teenage kids), and then we'll be doing something very similar: Buy a large chunk of land and let nature do its thing, with a little help and guidance from us. We're probably 10 years away from being able to do this at the scale and with the attention we'd like.

 

[KarenRei]

So, backing up several days... I buy posts. 25 more for 9857kr ($79,77). :Þ

All loaded up... full but not too bad!

.... Except until that last one, where I accidentally knock my rearview mirror off. :Þ

So I head straight home instead of out to my land. I epoxy its back and tape it up with painter's tape, and have the posts bear its weight. I figure just an hour and it should be tacky, and i can get back out.

Nope. It takes all bloody day before it sets well enough to remove the posts :Þ So I miss a "decent" weather day where I'm not working. :Þ

Fast forward to the next day (also off work). The mirror no longer needs the posts, but a storm is hitting. Still, I want to get these posts out of my car.

I unload as quickly as I can. The wind keeps blowing the hatch shut and trying to blow my knit cap off.

I drop five off in front of my gate, as a "central location"

The other twenty go near the east fence, with me literally running back and forth from my car with them to minimize my time out in the wind.

Storms continue for the next two days, finally dissipating today during my (weekend) workday.

 

[KarenRei]

I try to head out immediately after work today, but I'm delayed by.... sigh.... having to stop for gas :Þ

The sun is already going down when I arrive.

I haul out eight posts, in batches of four, and lay them out roughly in place. The wind has blown my "marker post" halfway over.

One of the posts refuses to go in all the way. I try another spot next to it. It also refuses to go all the way. I take out out. The point is starting to get ruined.

I head back (light already fading) and fetch my saw.

I shape it back and pound it in again. No dice. On and on. I ultimately try pounding it in five different holes shape it three times, only forced to give up by fading light and my saw running out of battery. I don't know what's wrong, but I just can't get it in as deep as I want it.

Ultimately, I just settle for shallower than I prefer. I don't want to leave with little done (and work until it's really dark), but there was just so little time, and that one problematic post ate up a lot of it. Still, I get get 8 posts in, which normally wouldn't be great, but all things considered, probably isn't bad. If I can get out tomorrow (day off), surely I'll finish up the posts, and hopefully move on to fence netting.

Here's to hoping for good weather tomorrow

 

[Bet TSLA]

Hmm. Maybe there's another interesting carbon sequestration mechanism:
Hemp is the New Oak: America’s First Hemp “Wood” Factory is Being Built
Apparently there have been attempts to grow hemp in Iceland:
https://www.icelandreview.com/news/hemp-grown-iceland
I assume there must be something newer out there.

I imagine that Iceland doesn't have much in the way of lumber production, so hemp fiber into "wood" might be useful in that way too.

Also an article about planting hemp as an adjunct to planting trees to sequester carbon:
The cheapest way to save the planet grows like a weed – Alternet.org

 

[KarenRei]

So, catching up on a couple trips.

I show up on a windy day; the weather got worse and worse the closer to my land I got. It's not "terrible", but combined with the cold, it's problematic. I almost don't even bother getting out, but I figured, I must try.

I start gathering and carrying posts from the depot.

I start trying to place them to figure out the alignment, but the wind keeps blowing them down. :Þ

Aaaand they keep blowing over. Even worse, it turns out that I've accidentally aimed the fence at an outcropping of rock :Þ

I notice one uprooted (but otherwise uninjured) tree, and replant it.

This outcrop is a giant mess. Can't drive anything into it, and then it drops off a meter just after it (where I can't drive anything either) :Þ I

The wind keeps being a problem, while I'm facing a difficult decision on what to do about this obstacle - to try to go through, above, or below it. Eventually it starts raining and I give up and go home.

I work for several days; there's no longer enough light in the evenings, so I don't try.

Yesterday I head out.... to find interlopers. Sigh :Þ

Thankfully, they head straight out.

The problem is that it's just way too cold (combined with wind chill), and the jacket and light sweater I wore isn't enough; I just can't manage to work out here.

I start heading back, and notice that the other of the two dead trees (planted by the previous landowner and already dying when I bought the land) has finally fallen over. Well, that was going to happen eventually

I also got a late start, so there wasn't going to be time to go back and get better clothed. Failure #2 :Þ

 

[KarenRei]

Yesterday I head out - later than I wanted, as I've been feeling pretty miserable. It's still cold, but calm, and I've got a good coat and sweater on. Snow is back on the distant mountains.

A neighbour on an ATV chases some stray sheep. The sheep take advantage of the landscape to go places where he can't drive.

I get out to my land and start working. On the way I note that while almost everything has died back for the fall, some plants seem to be waiting to the last minute to lose their leaves.

As much as I'd like to take the lower route around the ridge, it's a sharper curve than the upper route, and I worry about buried rocks. So I do the upper route.

I can't get the post all the way down, but after trying a few holes, I decide "good enough"; the rocks around it seem to wedge it reasonably well.

I place the rest of the posts all the way up to my eastern fence.

I go back and start pounding, but my headache returns with a vengeance. I have to stop and let my heartrate drop before I can continue working.

The ground for the entire rest of the way is awful. Almost nothing, wood or steel, goes all the way down. Where the wood at least is held in place well by rocks, I let it be. Otherwise, I replace it by steel, hoping it'll go down enough to suffice. Sometimes it does, sometimes it still has more slack than I'd like. The ground is just too shallow here. I really should have aimed my fence higher up, then curved back down, but... the time to do that was weeks ago, not today.

That said, this should suffice.

 

[KarenRei]

The timing for finishing the posts is good; clouds are descending from the mountains, as the sun sets.

I drop my post pounder off near my shed, where my old windbreak posts stand. They weren't hammered down well and had started to blow over, so I'll take the chance when I can to re-pound them in, so I can put the windbreak pallets back over them. Without a windbreak there, snow will accumulate in front of the shed door in a giant snowbank taller than me, rendering it inaccessible.

I start getting misted on as I head back to the car.

And, back home. Posts done!

-------------

Right now, I'm still trying to decide whether to head out or not today. The mists an still be seen on the mountains in the distance, so... I don't know.

 

[KarenRei]

So, we finally had a nice day where I wasn't working! I got a reasonably early start... which I promptly threw away when I picked up a hitchhiker from Albania/Greece, and ended up driving her all the way to Borgarnes and buying her some vínarbrauð I didn't take a pic of her, as that'd be rude, so... here's Borgarnes out my (up) passenger window, as proof

But, I still had a reasonable amount of time when I got back, even with the increasingly early sunsets. Unfortunately, the first thing I saw as I approached? Slit-eyed sweater-wearing tree munchers :Þ

When approaching from the top, you could only see the ones on the opposite side:

But from closer, you can see that five crossed to my side:

I realized that I'm not going to be able to get them away from the river, and even if I chased them through my gate, that would just encourage the other two to cross when I'm not around. So instead I decide to chase them back across the river and try to scare them off.

I seem quite effective in scaring them; they turn tail, run, and I never see them again.

Head back to the fencing on the west (fjörd) side. Walking through the landslide zone is easier than in the summer, as you can actually see where you're stepping!

Lots and lots of posts ahead of me.

 

[KarenRei]

I get back to where I last left off. I'd already cut the fence to make a gate, but honestly, gates are the least of my concern right now. I'm not going to do any more until the whole fence is in place, but at least concerning this one, I have to do it.

I use that nice "two loop" that was recommended in this thread.

Stretching and anchoring it to the post on the other side.

I keep working along. One problem I'm having is that the stretching tool tends to slide the vertical wires along the horizontal wires they're anchored to (as well as bending them). I think next time I might try to "kink" the horizontal wires a little to prevent this. Who knows, but worth a try

A ptarmigan dropped by and settled on the lower lip at the top of opposite cliff to watch me for a while.

Fun fact: the "pt" spelling of ptarmigan is based on an old, incorrect notion that the word was of greek origin. It's actually from Scottish Gaelic, "tàrmachan". Of course, we just call it "rjúpa". They're a game bird here, and popular at Christmas. But this one is of course safe around me! Check back in a few years, ptarmigan; I'm helping grow willows for those buds that you like to nibble on over the winter.

The sun is getting rather low, and there's a few things I need to do above, so I abandon my work by the river. I did however discover that it's better "skip posts", that I can tension just as well from every second post as I can from each post (I then go back and nail the fence up to the skipped post). Next time I do this, I'm going to see how many posts I can get away with skipping; tensioning is the part that takes the longest.

Back up top, I head to the shed. I really don't know whether I'll actually make it back before winter really sets in, so I have to assume I won't. I empty all the tools out my trunk into the shed, and replace them with my winter rims.

One tool is still sitting outside, though - the post pounder.

I get a six-pallet windbreak hammered in and set up (in ever-growing winds that try to take the pallets out of my hands! ) before it gets too dark to do anymore.

The post pounder goes into the shed, door locked, and I head home.

------------------

So, I don't know, this might be the last time I make it out this year. My next day off is Monday, and then after that, Friday through Sunday. After that comes Iceland Airwaves, which will eat up 100% of my time, from the moment I wake to the moment I sleep (its a massive music festival in Reykjavík, hundreds of bands playing everywhere from tiny venues to concert halls; I usually see 80+ concerts in 5 days). As it stands, Monday is looking iffy, but you never know.

 

[Fred42]

I get back to where I last left off. I'd already cut the fence to make a gate, but honestly, gates are the least of my concern right now. I'm not going to do any more until the whole fence is in place, but at least concerning this one, I have to do it.

View attachment 467227

I use that nice "two loop" that was recommended in this thread.

View attachment 467228

Stretching and anchoring it to the post on the other side.

View attachment 467229

I keep working along. One problem I'm having is that the stretching tool tends to slide the vertical wires along the horizontal wires they're anchored to (as well as bending them). I think next time I might try to "kink" the horizontal wires a little to prevent this. Who knows, but worth a try

View attachment 467230

A ptarmigan dropped by and settled on the lower lip at the top of opposite cliff to watch me for a while.

Fun fact: the "pt" spelling of ptarmigan is based on an old, incorrect notion that the word was of greek origin. It's actually from Scottish Gaelic, "tàrmachan". Of course, we just call it "rjúpa". They're a game bird here, and popular at Christmas. But this one is of course safe around me! Check back in a few years, ptarmigan; I'm helping grow willows for those buds that you like to nibble on over the winter.

View attachment 467232

The sun is getting rather low, and there's a few things I need to do above, so I abandon my work by the river. I did however discover that it's better "skip posts", that I can tension just as well from every second post as I can from each post (I then go back and nail the fence up to the skipped post). Next time I do this, I'm going to see how many posts I can get away with skipping; tensioning is the part that takes the longest.

View attachment 467231

Back up top, I head to the shed. I really don't know whether I'll actually make it back before winter really sets in, so I have to assume I won't. I empty all the tools out my trunk into the shed, and replace them with my winter rims.

View attachment 467233

One tool is still sitting outside, though - the post pounder.

View attachment 467234

I get a six-pallet windbreak hammered in and set up (in ever-growing winds that try to take the pallets out of my hands! ) before it gets too dark to do anymore.

View attachment 467235

The post pounder goes into the shed, door locked, and I head home.

------------------

So, I don't know, this might be the last time I make it out this year. My next day off is Monday, and then after that, Friday through Sunday. After that comes Iceland Airwaves, which will eat up 100% of my time, from the moment I wake to the moment I sleep (its a massive music festival in Reykjavík, hundreds of bands playing everywhere from tiny venues to concert halls; I usually see 80+ concerts in 5 days). As it stands, Monday is looking iffy, but you never know.

So, what roof will your house have?