Thursday, January 30, 2014

Tree Harvesting to Start Today

Today, mature trees in the farm, mostly mahogany, will be harvested. The buyer is Mr. Arlin Bulon, with three agents Bong, Alex and Aida. They have secured the necessary permits from DENR CENRO as well as the Barangay, everything is legal. Harvesting should take more than one week with daily operations of 3 chain saws and several men working.

My treehouse below, with many big trees on both sides, some of which we planted since 1992, the first time I visited the farm and liked it. Photos here taken last January 01, 2014, my last visit there.



Most of the big trees were planted from 1993-96. There were a few mahogany trees that were big already when I went there in 1992.


By late 2000s, we practically stopped planting trees as the older and bigger trees have started producing their own seeds and began natural regeneration of trees around the farm.


The naturally regenerating ones were soooo many. The challenge here is to cut and remove many of these new seedlings as they grow too close to each other, less than one foot distance. Trees cannot grow big and tall at this spacing, they will lack sunlight, lack minerals under the soil, lack space, too much competition among them.


Plus it can get dark easily when sunlight can hardly penetrate the soil. And mosquitoes tend to multiply fast in dark, highly forested areas.

After this harvest of big and mature trees, the younger ones will have more space, more sunlight, so they can grow bigger and taller too. A "perpetual forest" is possible under selective cutting method.


We shall have lots of charcoal/uling from tree branches and treetops to be produced. Lots of slabs too. Some I will use to repair my treehouse, some to be used by our caretakers, Nong Endring and Danny Paragas, in the repair of their houses too.

Some we will sell -- charcoal, slabs, and roots, for furniture or sculpture. If interested, drop a comment here, or email me.
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See also:
Trees in the Farm, Part 3, February 11, 2013
Natural Regeneration of Trees, February 21, 2013
Around My Treehouse, May 02, 2013

Trees in the farm, Part 4, August 21, 2013
Trees for Harvesting, December 05, 2013.