This is a misunderstanding. Carbon sequestration through reforestation works because the forest as a whole, not any individual tree, contains carbon. As old trees die, new younger trees replace them. The amount of carbon in the forest remains roughly constant. The exception is in places like peat bogs (which I have) where organic material that gets buried in the bog turns into peat due to the anoxic environment rather than decaying, permanently sequestering the carbon (as long as the bog is intact or until it gets buried at sufficient depth that the atmosphere can no longer affect it).
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Sequestering carbon by land restoration and reforestation in Iceland
- Thread starter KarenRei
- Start date
This is a misunderstanding. Carbon sequestration through reforestation works because the forest as a whole, not any individual tree, contains carbon. As old trees die, new younger trees replace them. The amount of carbon in the forest remains roughly constant. The exception is in places like peat bogs (which I have) where organic material that gets buried in the bog turns into peat due to the anoxic environment rather than decaying, permanently sequestering the carbon (as long as the bog is intact or until it gets buried at sufficient depth that the atmosphere can no longer affect it).
Hi Karen,
Just sent a small donation. I do have a special request though...
Can you please set up a web streaming 8k continuous video feed so we can all watch this happen in real time? Just for maybe the next 20 years or so till the trees mature a bit.
Bur seriously, I would like you to plant at least one birch tree somewhere. I spent a lot of time in Northern Wisconsin a long time ago and there were lots of birch trees. The "why are there no trees in Iceland" link I posted earlier also said there were many Birch trees in Iceland back in the old days.
Please post occasional pictures so we can monitor the progress. Do whatever is best for the restoration if there is anything left over after you get the RubberToe Birch tree planted.
RT
Birch are tricky because sheep that sneak onto the land (almost impossible to completely exclude them) *love* to eat them. But I'll make one of the trays be birch for you, and try to plant them in as inacessible spots as I can
Will post pics, starting today! Just finished lunch, about to head out
(Also just ordered 30kg of clover seed... Lífland recommended 5kg/ha of mixed clover for my situation, which I'll be able to pick up Friday. They also recommended manure spreading for the gravel pans, to help them get started, so I'll need to arrange that at some point)Lastly, I'll repeat my view that it's pretty dang silly to think that anyone here on this Tesla forum has any interest in not going electric just because they helped with habitat restoration.
Okay, back! And I took pictures
Heading out of town (I decided to take the Insight rather than the pickup because the latter is a guzzler... this meant accepting that I'd be packing the car to the brim ):
I picked up a hitchhiker en route (didn't take any pictures of her, I figured that would be rude), and off we went into the "heiði" (high land on ridges). Since it was a drizzly day, this meant driving through a fogbank surrounded by dropoffs (although usually not that far down ):
Just before Selfoss I bid my guest goodbye and turned off towards Kjarr. You could tell that I was getting closer to the place because the closer I got, the bigger and denser the trees got
The owner wasn't in at the moment, so I had a little walk around while waiting for her:
Icelandic forests often have this sort of "fairyland" look to them, full of moss and moisture:
Gullregn (Laburnum, Golden Rain). It'll be a while before I have enough shelter to plant trees like this:
Heading out of town (I decided to take the Insight rather than the pickup because the latter is a guzzler... this meant accepting that I'd be packing the car to the brim
):I picked up a hitchhiker en route (didn't take any pictures of her, I figured that would be rude), and off we went into the "heiði" (high land on ridges). Since it was a drizzly day, this meant driving through a fogbank surrounded by dropoffs (although usually not that far down
):Just before Selfoss I bid my guest goodbye and turned off towards Kjarr. You could tell that I was getting closer to the place because the closer I got, the bigger and denser the trees got
The owner wasn't in at the moment, so I had a little walk around while waiting for her:
Icelandic forests often have this sort of "fairyland" look to them, full of moss and moisture:
Gullregn (Laburnum, Golden Rain). It'll be a while before I have enough shelter to plant trees like this:
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There were plenty of greenhouses on-site and seemingly endless rows of trees and shrubs in various stages of growth:
The owner arrived, so we started discussing the various trees and gathering up trays. The plants in these trays were huge - averaging perhaps twice the size of those that I'd been getting - with roots bursting out from the drainage holes in the bottom. While it's great to get such a head start, it means that I really need to rush to get these in the ground! The varieties she recommended:
Ilmreynir (Rowan)
"5-8m. Hardy. Icelandic plant. Thrives best in a sunny place in rich ground. (?) fragrant. Red berries in the fall. Beautiful (?) tree."
Birki (Downy Birch):
"8-13m. Hardy. Wind-tolerant. Sun-loving but tolerates half-shade. Suffices with any soil. Icelandic variety."
Jörfavíðir "Kólga" (Dune Willow "Billow")
"3-5m. Hardy. Salt-tolerant. Fast growing, tolerant plant. Well suited for windbreaks and hedges."
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Strandavíðir 'Strandir' (Tea-Leaved Willow 'Coasts')
"(?)m. Hardy. Wind-tolerant. Salt-(tolerant?). Tolerates being clipped well. Suits (?) (hedge?) and as form-clipped shrub..(?)... dark green and shiny."
(The willows were recommended not because sheep won't eat them - they will - but because it's great at growing back if something does eat it).
Víðir "fjölbraut" (Willow sp. "comprehensive")
"2-9m. Hardy. Salt-tolerant. Fast growing, tolerant plant. Well suited to windbreaks or large hedges. A cross between viðja and brekkuvíðis" (not sure what the English names of the latter willows are).
Stafafura (Lodgepole Pine)
"7-15m. (?) ... growing place or ... (?) ... disturbed ground, good ... (?) ... soil. Suits well as (?) plant or individually in gardens. May (?)."
Sitkaelri (Green Alder)
"1-4m. Hardy and wind tolerant. Needs a bright growing place. Good and tolerant soil restoration plant. Has nitrogen-binding roots and thus suits well for disturbed soils."
She also recommended lots of Sitka Spruce, but I didn't get a picture of the sign.
Now for a game of "How many trees can you fit inside an Insight"?
The bill ($690). She was not only the cheapest place around, with plants so big that that most people would have put them into larger pots to sell for more money, but she was also really generous about the way in which she calculated the bill (marking down 15 1/2 trays as 14, and lowering the average price):
It smelled *awesome* inside the car:
"(?)m. Hardy. Wind-tolerant. Salt-(tolerant?). Tolerates being clipped well. Suits (?) (hedge?) and as form-clipped shrub..(?)... dark green and shiny."
(The willows were recommended not because sheep won't eat them - they will - but because it's great at growing back if something does eat it).
Víðir "fjölbraut" (Willow sp. "comprehensive")
"2-9m. Hardy. Salt-tolerant. Fast growing, tolerant plant. Well suited to windbreaks or large hedges. A cross between viðja and brekkuvíðis" (not sure what the English names of the latter willows are).
Stafafura (Lodgepole Pine)
"7-15m. (?) ... growing place or ... (?) ... disturbed ground, good ... (?) ... soil. Suits well as (?) plant or individually in gardens. May (?)."
Sitkaelri (Green Alder)
"1-4m. Hardy and wind tolerant. Needs a bright growing place. Good and tolerant soil restoration plant. Has nitrogen-binding roots and thus suits well for disturbed soils."
She also recommended lots of Sitka Spruce, but I didn't get a picture of the sign.
Now for a game of "How many trees can you fit inside an Insight"?
The bill ($690). She was not only the cheapest place around, with plants so big that that most people would have put them into larger pots to sell for more money, but she was also really generous about the way in which she calculated the bill (marking down 15 1/2 trays as 14, and lowering the average price):
It smelled *awesome* inside the car:
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Then, right as I was about to drive away, she came running out to the car carrying a meter-high Sitka Spruce, telling me, hey, I almost forgot, I planned to give you a bonus plant, something that would get established sooner!" So we had to find a way to cram yet another tree into the car
Anyway, heading on back up over the heiði:
If you look closely to the right, you can see geothermal steam rising from the ground just north of Hveragerði (the only city I've ever been in where people have fumaroles and the like in their yards
).Since it was right on the way back, I stopped briefly at Hellisheiðarvirkjun - the third-largest geothermal power plant on Earth. Note that while geothermal power is very low CO2, it's not zero CO2, as the geothermal water contains some trapped CO2. However, in 2014 they started an experiment here to see what would happen if they reinjected the trapped gases into ground - it was theorized that the CO2 could bind with certain minerals and sequester it. They anticipated that most of the CO2 would come back up, that only a small amount would be bound on each pass - but almost none of it came back up. The project was such a huge success that they're looking to expand it to other plants.
Anyway, back into and through Reykjavík.
Leaving town to the north we pass the forested slopes of Ulfarsfell (Wolf Hill). Hard to see in this picture, but in person you can see how the forests are steadily spreading up from where they were planted (near the rode) up the hill itself.
West of Esja. This farmer has been doing forest planting, but I don't like how he did it - everything is in rows, evenly spaced, all the same species, all planted at the same time. It looks unnatural. Mixed forests are much better. But, better than nothing; the lack of trees in this area (Kjalarnes) makes it incredibly windy.
Here's my turn, right before the tunnel at Hvalfjörður (Whale Fjord):
The turnoff into my valley. But let's go just a little bit past it to show more of what I'm targeting:
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It’s beautiful. Thanks for sharing.View attachment 429925
Then, right as I was about to drive away, she came running out to the car carrying a meter-high Sitka Spruce, telling me, hey, I almost forgot, I planned to give you a bonus plant, something that would get established sooner!" So we had to find a way to cram yet another tree into the car
View attachment 429926
Anyway, heading on back up over the heiði:
View attachment 429914
If you look closely to the right, you can see geothermal steam rising from the ground just north of Hveragerði (the only city I've ever been in where people have fumaroles and the like in their yards
View attachment 429915
Since it was right on the way back, I stopped briefly at Hellisheiðarvirkjun - the third-largest geothermal power plant on Earth. Note that while geothermal power is very low CO2, it's not zero CO2, as the geothermal water contains some trapped CO2. However, in 2014 they started an experiment here to see what would happen if they reinjected the trapped gases into ground - it was theorized that the CO2 could bind with certain minerals and sequester it. They anticipated that most of the CO2 would come back up, that only a small amount would be bound on each pass - but almost none of it came back up. The project was such a huge success that they're looking to expand it to other plants.
View attachment 429917
Anyway, back into and through Reykjavík.
Leaving town to the north we pass the forested slopes of Ulfarsfell (Wolf Hill). Hard to see in this picture, but in person you can see how the forests are steadily spreading up from where they were planted (near the rode) up the hill itself.
View attachment 429918
West of Esja. This farmer has been doing forest planting, but I don't like how he did it - everything is in rows, evenly spaced, all the same species, all planted at the same time. It looks unnatural. Mixed forests are much better. But, better than nothing; the lack of trees in this area (Kjalarnes) makes it incredibly windy.
View attachment 429919
Here's my turn, right before the tunnel at Hvalfjörður (Whale Fjord):
View attachment 429922
View attachment 429928
The turnoff into my valley. But let's go just a little bit past it to show more of what I'm targeting:
View attachment 429939
(Hit the photo limit; more in a bit
The meter-high Sitka Spruce watches me pass the road to its future home Sitka Spruce is a common forestry here, and its potential height is practically unlimited. While our climate is currently similar to, say, Kodiak Island, where they reach dozens of meters in height, if the planet keeps warming, as this tree starts maturing the climate will become more like that of coastal British Columbia, where the trees typically peak at 50-70 meters tall. The tallest Sitka Spruce in Iceland, planted in the 1960s, are nearly 30 meters tall.
Are conifers native to Iceland? Well, "somewhat native" - which admittedly is a strange answer. Iceland was entirely covered in ice during some of the recent glacial periods, and these events caused extinctions - for example, pines went extinct about 1 million years ago here, and didn't manage to re-find the island during that time period. When settlers arrived, the forests were relatively species-poor with those that recolonized easily, such as birch, willow, and some rowan.
In general, however, despite the desire to support "more completely native" trees like birch, forestry here also extensively uses conifers. Namely, because reach greater heights, faster (once estalished; they're slower to establish), and just generally do a better job of doing what they're planted to do: bind eroding hillsides, block winds, add organic material to the source, help the country become independent in wood production, etc etc. But more importantly - unlike non-native herbaceous plants (like the recent chervil plague), you don't have to pay to remove them: people will pay you to remove them (for the wood) and replant a birch forest if you want. The general thought is that it's better to get some shelter, forest habitat, organic matter, slope binding, etc, in as quick and efficient of a manner as possible, in order to help any other future plantings of other tree species.
Anyway, the below mixed forest is more what I'm targeting - a wide diverse range of species, allowed to grow naturally. Some neighbors co-own and co-planted this land a few decades ago, and it's grown up beautifully:
The birch on the outskirts is so dense that you can't even walk through it:
Blueberries growing a in clearing:
Crowberries:
They have one thing I don't: a tall waterfall (Mine are pretty small)
Anyway, back to my land:
A runic gate at the entrance which I welded together, awaiting to be mounted (I have some temporary fencing instead):
Sitka Spruce is a common forestry here, and its potential height is practically unlimited. While our climate is currently similar to, say, Kodiak Island, where they reach dozens of meters in height, if the planet keeps warming, as this tree starts maturing the climate will become more like that of coastal British Columbia, where the trees typically peak at 50-70 meters tall. The tallest Sitka Spruce in Iceland, planted in the 1960s, are nearly 30 meters tall.Are conifers native to Iceland? Well, "somewhat native" - which admittedly is a strange answer.
Iceland was entirely covered in ice during some of the recent glacial periods, and these events caused extinctions - for example, pines went extinct about 1 million years ago here, and didn't manage to re-find the island during that time period. When settlers arrived, the forests were relatively species-poor with those that recolonized easily, such as birch, willow, and some rowan.In general, however, despite the desire to support "more completely native" trees like birch, forestry here also extensively uses conifers. Namely, because reach greater heights, faster (once estalished; they're slower to establish), and just generally do a better job of doing what they're planted to do: bind eroding hillsides, block winds, add organic material to the source, help the country become independent in wood production, etc etc. But more importantly - unlike non-native herbaceous plants (like the recent chervil plague), you don't have to pay to remove them: people will pay you to remove them (for the wood) and replant a birch forest if you want. The general thought is that it's better to get some shelter, forest habitat, organic matter, slope binding, etc, in as quick and efficient of a manner as possible, in order to help any other future plantings of other tree species.
Anyway, the below mixed forest is more what I'm targeting - a wide diverse range of species, allowed to grow naturally. Some neighbors co-own and co-planted this land a few decades ago, and it's grown up beautifully:
The birch on the outskirts is so dense that you can't even walk through it:
Blueberries growing a in clearing:
Crowberries:
They have one thing I don't: a tall waterfall
(Mine are pretty small)Anyway, back to my land:
A runic gate at the entrance which I welded together, awaiting to be mounted (I have some temporary fencing instead):
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The foreground of this photo is just downstream from where the neighbors to the north pile up their horse manure, so it gets some runoff. Note how much taller, denser, and greener it is than the grass in the background
In terms of negative effects on our local environment, it generally goes goats, followed closely by sheep, then with a big gap, cattle, followed by horses being the least destructive. The latter's manure is good for the soil, they tend to prefer grasses more than trees, they crop them rather than uprooting them, they're not as prone to crossing fences and don't go onto steep eroding slopes, etc. Also, on a global scale, they're not ruminants, which is good for methane emissions. So as far as livestock goes, they get my comparative seal of approval ("arr arr arr!")
Here's one of the biggest problems with degradation. Note the "bowl-shaped" marsh here?
This place suffered a massive landslide a bit over a decade ago. You can see the accumulated debris down in the canyon, slowly being washed out to sea by the river:
More on landslides in a bit. For now, it's time to unload the trees. 14 trays (plus half a tray in a bag), 40 trees per tray = about 580 trees:
Shortly after laying them out, I realized.... "I'm an idiot." I wasn't going to be able to plant any of these today (it was getting ready to rain again), and I had just laid out a big banquet for sheep all in one place So I reloaded the ones that weren't sheep resistant (plus the bagged sitka spruce, out of fear of them drying out before they're planted) into my car to store at home. I decided to just do a brief inspection of the eastern side of my land before the rain got there, since I hadn't gotten out there since the late spring planting.
En route, a good example of quite degraded grassland. Any less nutrients and grass wouldn't grow at all here:
A closeup of the grass shows the classic symptoms of phosphorus deficiency (red leaftips / edges) and nitrogen deficiency (low height, light green colouration rather than dark, and sparse spacing) - matching up to the nutrient tests I had done a couple years ago.
Crossing the ravine to inspect one of the gravel pan areas. Curious, something looks a bit different than when I was here last....
In terms of negative effects on our local environment, it generally goes goats, followed closely by sheep, then with a big gap, cattle, followed by horses being the least destructive. The latter's manure is good for the soil, they tend to prefer grasses more than trees, they crop them rather than uprooting them, they're not as prone to crossing fences and don't go onto steep eroding slopes, etc. Also, on a global scale, they're not ruminants, which is good for methane emissions. So as far as livestock goes, they get my comparative seal of approval ("arr arr arr!")
Here's one of the biggest problems with degradation. Note the "bowl-shaped" marsh here?
This place suffered a massive landslide a bit over a decade ago. You can see the accumulated debris down in the canyon, slowly being washed out to sea by the river:
More on landslides in a bit. For now, it's time to unload the trees. 14 trays (plus half a tray in a bag), 40 trees per tray = about 580 trees:
Shortly after laying them out, I realized.... "I'm an idiot." I wasn't going to be able to plant any of these today (it was getting ready to rain again), and I had just laid out a big banquet for sheep all in one place
So I reloaded the ones that weren't sheep resistant (plus the bagged sitka spruce, out of fear of them drying out before they're planted) into my car to store at home. I decided to just do a brief inspection of the eastern side of my land before the rain got there, since I hadn't gotten out there since the late spring planting.En route, a good example of quite degraded grassland. Any less nutrients and grass wouldn't grow at all here:
A closeup of the grass shows the classic symptoms of phosphorus deficiency (red leaftips / edges) and nitrogen deficiency (low height, light green colouration rather than dark, and sparse spacing) - matching up to the nutrient tests I had done a couple years ago.
Crossing the ravine to inspect one of the gravel pan areas. Curious, something looks a bit different than when I was here last....
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And to my surprise.... IT's GROWING! The fertilizer that I spread last year WORKED! I had't seen much results until now - it just needed some time
Now, the grass there is still clearly in a terrible state - it hardly even looks green. Very low, very sparse, very discoloured. And I knew I was spreading way too little fertilizer - it really needs about 5x more phosphorus than I spread, and many times more nitrogen. But, one, I didn't have the money to spread more at the time, and two, with the soil having such a low carbon content (e.g. mineral-binding ability) and so few plants to soak it up, I was worried about leaching.
This land didn't degrade in a day, and I shouldn't try to make it be restored in a day! But at least now there's some plants here to take advantage of the upcoming clover nitrogen and manure
Here's some spots that I missed, to show more what it looked like before across this entire area:
I mentioned before that I'd talk more about landslides in a bit. And this picture below is the reason:
I'm greatly concerned about this section of slope. Like much of the land, and indeed much of Iceland, it's underlain by underground streams. There's evidence of slides in the more distant past, and the land feels quite loose, like it's not well anchored. I strongly suspect that if I don't get this slope forested, within a couple decades there will probably be a major landslide here
This slope, by contrast, is right over bedrock, and unlikely to have a mass slide. However, it's shown itself to be very prone to shedding boulders.
Just a look down the canyon. This is the west side; the east side is deeper and steeper:
Another section that used to be bare ground, now covered in (struggling, but living!) grass. It's surrounded by an iron bog:
I love my iron bogs Not only are they good for carbon sequestration, but they're geologically interesting. Decomposition of pyrite uphill from me leaches sulfuric acid, which dissolves iron+2, which is oxidized to iron+3 by bacteria as a source of energy. This deposits an iron-rich mud and nodules. It also sometimes (not visible here) creates a goethite sheen that looks like an oil slick, but when you touch it, you find that it's actually a bacterial film.
The water level is really low right now, despite all of our recent rain:
Now, the grass there is still clearly in a terrible state - it hardly even looks green. Very low, very sparse, very discoloured. And I knew I was spreading way too little fertilizer - it really needs about 5x more phosphorus than I spread, and many times more nitrogen. But, one, I didn't have the money to spread more at the time, and two, with the soil having such a low carbon content (e.g. mineral-binding ability) and so few plants to soak it up, I was worried about leaching.
This land didn't degrade in a day, and I shouldn't try to make it be restored in a day!
But at least now there's some plants here to take advantage of the upcoming clover nitrogen and manure Here's some spots that I missed, to show more what it looked like before across this entire area:
I mentioned before that I'd talk more about landslides in a bit. And this picture below is the reason:
I'm greatly concerned about this section of slope. Like much of the land, and indeed much of Iceland, it's underlain by underground streams. There's evidence of slides in the more distant past, and the land feels quite loose, like it's not well anchored. I strongly suspect that if I don't get this slope forested, within a couple decades there will probably be a major landslide here
This slope, by contrast, is right over bedrock, and unlikely to have a mass slide. However, it's shown itself to be very prone to shedding boulders.
Just a look down the canyon. This is the west side; the east side is deeper and steeper:
Another section that used to be bare ground, now covered in (struggling, but living!) grass. It's surrounded by an iron bog:
I love my iron bogs
Not only are they good for carbon sequestration, but they're geologically interesting. Decomposition of pyrite uphill from me leaches sulfuric acid, which dissolves iron+2, which is oxidized to iron+3 by bacteria as a source of energy. This deposits an iron-rich mud and nodules. It also sometimes (not visible here) creates a goethite sheen that looks like an oil slick, but when you touch it, you find that it's actually a bacterial film.The water level is really low right now, despite all of our recent rain:
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During my walks, I occasionally find wild trees that managed to seed themselves:
I always weed around them to help give them a chance:
Just a random plant picture: meadowsweet (Icelandic "mjaðjurt", or "mead herb"). Sweet-smelling when crushed, it grows in semi-boggy areas. In a genus formerly known as "spirea", it contains a natural painkiller (salicylic acid) in much of its tissue, which was commercialized as "acetyl spirea", or "aspirin" for short.
As one of my tests this spring, I decided to see whether I could just stick aspen cuttings in the ground and have them survive. Surprisingly, some did (with difficulty!)
I'd have had better success had 1) I not waited so long, and 2) had we not had such a drought in early summer (nearly a month of nearly-no rain)
It was really hard on the newly planted trees in general. There's always water underground here (as mentioned, even underground streams), but trees need to get their roots down to it in order to be able to access it.Most pines generally shrugged off the drought, but this one had trouble:
The visual distinction between the my land (right), where I spread fertilizer, and the area past my fence (left), where I did not:
Hard to see from this angle, but I spelled out the Tesla logo with fertilizer in this field
Can't wait for an aerial shot. It'll be a shame to destroy by finishing restoring the field Lodgepole pine, showing no signs of damage from the earlier drought. Note how much shorter these were than the new ones I just got!
Rowans also survived the drought well, which surprised me, because when I looked at them during the drought, they looked like they were dying. But they're among the less hardy of the trees I've planted, so they'll be facing another test this winter.
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Hard to see below, but there's a lodgepole pine (near), which got through unscathed, while in the background, in the same type of soil there's a dead spruce seedling. The spruces seemed to have the highest loss rate, perhaps 75%. Overall though I think about 80% of the seedlings made it through the drought. The recommended planting spacing for trees is in recognition that there will always be some mortality, particularly in the first year.
And now, for something completely different. On the way home I stopped by Krókháls 13, the place registered by Tesla for their operations in Iceland. While not explicitly stated, there's a general consensus that the below location is where they're going to be opening both a store and a service centre (shares the same building with Kia; they both rent the building).
The lot is brand new (and not completely finished - notice the lack of light fixtures). The building itself used to just have a barren wall here, but they installed these big show windows, tile floors, etc etc. Furniture showed up 1-2 weeks ago:
There was also work done on this garage (also attached to Kia):
Normally the Tesla service Model S (arrived here from Norway about a month and a half ago?) is parked on-site, but it wasn't this evening. I once met the guy from Tesla (and either a girl from Tesla, or a friend or significant other of his - she didn't talk) during one of my visits - he was apparently their local manager. Couldn't get him to leak the date when they'll open, apart from "soon"
Anyway, back home to unload. Since the sun tends to stick low to the horizon in Iceland, I've been storing trees (precariously ) on the top of my trailer frame. The new trees that were taken home to be safe from the sheep now sit beside tamarack (right) and blue spruce (left). The tamarack should be large enough to plant out next year, but the blue spruce will have to wait a couple years. But it's worth it, as they're not only beautiful, but they simultaneously tolerate poor soils and shade, so they'll be excellent for shoring up steep canyon slopes.
That's all for tonight! More pics from when they start going in the ground. If the weather cooperates it might be evenings this week. I'll have a three-day weekend starting Friday, so hopefully lots of planting over the weekend. Clover should also come on Friday. I think that'll be around $600. That still leaves hundreds for manure and potentially reinforcing the fencing to help better keep sheep out. I'll message my neighbor and see if I could source manure spreading from her and what it would cost. If everything's planted sown, spread, and reinforced, and there's enough summer-time and money left, maybe I'll even be able to do another batch of trees after these!
I'll keep you all up to date!
And now, for something completely different. On the way home I stopped by Krókháls 13, the place registered by Tesla for their operations in Iceland.
While not explicitly stated, there's a general consensus that the below location is where they're going to be opening both a store and a service centre (shares the same building with Kia; they both rent the building).The lot is brand new (and not completely finished - notice the lack of light fixtures). The building itself used to just have a barren wall here, but they installed these big show windows, tile floors, etc etc. Furniture showed up 1-2 weeks ago:
There was also work done on this garage (also attached to Kia):
Normally the Tesla service Model S (arrived here from Norway about a month and a half ago?) is parked on-site, but it wasn't this evening. I once met the guy from Tesla (and either a girl from Tesla, or a friend or significant other of his - she didn't talk) during one of my visits - he was apparently their local manager. Couldn't get him to leak the date when they'll open, apart from "soon"
Anyway, back home to unload. Since the sun tends to stick low to the horizon in Iceland, I've been storing trees (precariously
) on the top of my trailer frame. The new trees that were taken home to be safe from the sheep now sit beside tamarack (right) and blue spruce (left). The tamarack should be large enough to plant out next year, but the blue spruce will have to wait a couple years. But it's worth it, as they're not only beautiful, but they simultaneously tolerate poor soils and shade, so they'll be excellent for shoring up steep canyon slopes.That's all for tonight! More pics from when they start going in the ground. If the weather cooperates it might be evenings this week. I'll have a three-day weekend starting Friday, so hopefully lots of planting over the weekend.
Clover should also come on Friday. I think that'll be around $600. That still leaves hundreds for manure and potentially reinforcing the fencing to help better keep sheep out. I'll message my neighbor and see if I could source manure spreading from her and what it would cost. If everything's planted sown, spread, and reinforced, and there's enough summer-time and money left, maybe I'll even be able to do another batch of trees after these!I'll keep you all up to date!
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No...she's not asking people to help sequester carbon by land restoration and reforestration in Iceland "in favor of more expensive but far more effective alternatives”.
I'll never watch Bjorn again!Hard to see below, but there's a lodgepole pine (near), which got through unscathed, while in the background, in the same type of soil there's a dead spruce seedling. The spruces seemed to have the highest loss rate, perhaps 75%. Overall though I think about 80% of the seedlings made it through the drought. The recommended planting spacing for trees is in recognition that there will always be some mortality, particularly in the first year.
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And now, for something completely different. On the way home I stopped by Krókháls 13, the place registered by Tesla for their operations in Iceland.
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The lot is brand new (and not completely finished - notice the lack of light fixtures). The building itself used to just have a barren wall here, but they installed these big show windows, tile floors, etc etc. Furniture showed up 1-2 weeks ago:
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There was also work done on this garage (also attached to Kia):
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Normally the Tesla service Model S (arrived here from Norway about a month and a half ago?) is parked on-site, but it wasn't this evening. I once met the guy from Tesla (and either a girl from Tesla, or a friend or significant other of his - she didn't talk) during one of my visits - he was apparently their local manager. Couldn't get him to leak the date when they'll open, apart from "soon"
Anyway, back home to unload. Since the sun tends to stick low to the horizon in Iceland, I've been storing trees (precariously
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That's all for tonight! More pics from when they start going in the ground. If the weather cooperates it might be evenings this week. I'll have a three-day weekend starting Friday, so hopefully lots of planting over the weekend.
I'll keep you all up to date!
Are you sure you want a 3 vs. waiting for a Y?
No interest at all in a Y; it's not a true countryside vehicle, just a somewhat elevated stretched 3, at the cost of less range, higher charge times, and higher costs. It's the pickup that I can't get out of my head
But unless the stock really skyrockets, I won't be able to afford one for quite a while. I'll probably get one used down the road. What did Bjørn say?
The Y will have more cargo room and a hatchback, but then you knew that.No interest at all in a Y; it's not a true countryside vehicle, just a somewhat elevated stretched 3, at the cost of less range, higher charge times, and higher costs. It's the pickup that I can't get out of my head
What did Bjørn say?
Re: Bjorn, I just intended a light comment on your interesting photos and text.
True that!
But I have a trailer. That said, my current trailer (as you may have noticed in the last picture) is pretty dang big, heavy, and unaerodynamic. I'll probably trade it down for a smaller teardrop trailer when I get my 3.I've never quite understood why trailers aren't more popular in the US. People in the US always seem to want a vehicle big enough to put everything they might ever want to carry inside, rather than just towing a trailer on those occasions. It was a really important move for European markets that Tesla added a trailer hitch; that's a demand boost that will just keep on giving.
The main thing pickup would do would not just be that it can have things in a bed haul heavier things behind it (although that'd certainly be nice!). It's that it'd actually be able to take the highland / mountain roads, which are really amazing. Always feels like a sin to go out into that unspoiled terrain in an ICE vehicle. But you need a vehicle that can take abuse.
I think part of it is “where do you store the trailer”? A lot of suburban homeowner’s associations won’t let you just store it out in the driveway/street, so it would have to take up a slot in the garage. Offsite storage is inconvenient and expensive. Rural/large property owners have better options.True that!
I've never quite understood why trailers aren't more popular in the US. People in the US always seem to want a vehicle big enough to put everything they might ever want to carry inside, rather than just towing a trailer on those occasions. It was a really important move for European markets that Tesla added a trailer hitch; that's a demand boost that will just keep on giving.
The main thing pickup would do would not just be that it can have things in a bed haul heavier things behind it (although that'd certainly be nice!). It's that it'd actually be able to take the highland / mountain roads, which are really amazing. Always feels like a sin to go out into that unspoiled terrain in an ICE vehicle. But you need a vehicle that can take abuse.
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
^^ Americans are brain-washed into thinking that a truck is needed to tow.
I personally outfit my car(s) with a hitch and rent the trailer
I personally outfit my car(s) with a hitch and rent the trailer
