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Old 04-30-2011, 12:00 PM  
mohel
 
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Keizer, OR
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Mesquite is one plant that either has to be dug up or treated chemically. Just cutting it off at the ground pisses it off, so I guess its job security for them to just come in and use a hydro axe to clear it out.
By not killing it aren't they undoing the work of farmers that have done the job right on adjoining lands? There may be a legal question there.

Hydro axe confused me till I looked it up.


The "hydro" had me thinking water. Orange County Choppers in NY did a bike for a company that developed a portable water cutter in a back pack. It cuts steel too, just what the Texas gardener needs in his tool shed.


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It is spread from mesquite beans via birds or livestock. Mesquite sucks the moisture from the ground and has been
shown to lower the water tables. Recent studies have shown water sources return when massive brush control is applied, pretty cool to see creeks flow again once the mesquite is removed. Our average rainfall is about 16 to 20 inches a year, so the more we do the more we get to keep.

It's an attractive tree but not so pretty when you understand it. I'd never heard of beans from trees before. I'm so naive about your plants I once felt some concern mesquite might be endangered. A local Lowes had a wall of mesquite charcoal behind it's new line of grills. I won't worry again.



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The mesquite found in the desert grasslands tends to be shrub-like, growing only to about four feet tall. In spring, the mesquite produces large inflorescences of yellow flowers which are pollinated by bees.1 The legume-type fruit is flattened, three to five inches long, and may occur in singly or in clusters.
That's pretty hostile land you're taming in Texas.

Our average rainfall is from about 5 inches to 200 inches. We run the gamut.
Fire in Texas-oregon.jpg 

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Old 04-30-2011, 06:30 PM  
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LOL sorry about the Hydro Ax thing. They are unique tractors, noisy and they break down a lot, lots of moving parts. I don't own one but it would be nice too. Mesquite will never be endangered, it spreads way to fast and cost way to much to kill it. The poison cost about a $100 a gallon and you mix it at 15% to 25% rate with diesel, stump spray or basal spray is my preferred method of taking it out. Dry mesquite makes one heck of a nice BBQ wood. Good for fireplaces too, burns hot and slow. I hear the beans make good seasoning for BBQ when used as a smoking agent like wet wood chips. 5 to 200" of rain, that is just insane. I would love to get one year at 200", it would fill the lakes up and make the creeks run. I bet it is awesome to drive across your state just to see the difference in flora and fauna.
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Old 04-30-2011, 07:37 PM  
mohel
 
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Keizer, OR
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5 to 200" of rain, that is just insane. I would love to get one year at 200", it would fill the lakes up and make the creeks run. I bet it is awesome to drive across your state just to see the difference in flora and fauna.

Drove here in 2005 from PA right after hitting 60. I'd never been W. of Omaha but I knew a lot about Oregon (I thought). It's almost defies belief to see how one microclime can morph into it's opposite with 5 miles driving.

200+ in. snowpack is an hour away on Mt. Hood. An hour to my West there are snorkelers diving in coves and fleets of fishermen. South Crater Lake has her 600+ inches that will hopefully melt by August.

To the NE over the Cascades you find the John Day fossil beds country and in our SE corner we;re pure desert.
They snow board on Hood year round so it's a major training site.

I crossed Oregon that first time on the Southern route and it was pretty much all empty high desert. I was getting a bit nervous about where they hid my rainforest but it turned up once I crested the mountains.

Know how moss grows on the North side of trees? Not in Oregon. Here it grows all over the tree as well as the branches. I was coming down the pass trying to figure out what was wrong with all the trees. I had to stop and look till I realized the moss was king here. It grows on our roofs and my white Tradesman was turning green when I sold it.

There are many photos of this state in the Oregon section too.
Fire in Texas-rainforest.jpg 

Fire in Texas-jan_26-039.jpg 

Fire in Texas-imgp7644.jpg 

Fire in Texas-maple-lined-silver-creek-trail-silver-falls-oregon.jpg 

Fire in Texas-indian_creek_siuslaw_national_forest_oregon.jpg 

Fire in Texas-jdfb3.jpg 

Fire in Texas-jdfb4.jpg 

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Old 04-30-2011, 08:33 PM  
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blucher, that is awesome, really amazing. I lived in Georgia when I was in the military, Savannah area, it was the most rain I had ever seen. Swamps and high water table was awesome after coming from West Texas. We took a long trip this summer, took my mom to Mount Rushmore, then across to Yellowstone, down to Salt Lake City, Vegas, El Paso, and then home. We totaled 5k miles and got to see lots of great climates. Loved the cool mountains, saw some spots that had been burned in Yellowstone. I love the mountains but fires seem to makes one heck of a mess when they get rolling. We might make a run to the Redwood Forest in CA this summer, if we do we will have to swing further North to see Oregon, those pics are amazing.
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Old 05-01-2011, 10:17 AM  
mohel
 
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We totaled 5k miles and got to see lots of great climates. Loved the cool mountains, saw some spots that had been burned in Yellowstone. I love the mountains but fires seem to makes one heck of a mess when they get rolling. We might make a run to the Redwood Forest in CA this summer, if we do we will have to swing further North to see Oregon, those pics are amazing.
Thanks Jon, I'm just one of the recent observers of this odd but lovely place. I saw the same fire damage in 2005 and that plus my first time in Yellowstone really brought it home to me. Our last bison herd lives there.

I intend seeing those redwoods myself. Crater Lake isn't far from N. CA.
Fire in Texas-crater_lake_oregon_as_seen_from_space.jpg 

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Old 05-11-2011, 01:29 PM  
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We've been getting light rain, nothing that's going to help though.
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Old 05-11-2011, 04:18 PM  
mohel
 
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Originally Posted by Austin View Post
We've been getting light rain, nothing that's going to help though.
You need to cut firebreaks between the areas most prone to wildfires. Think California.
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Old 05-11-2011, 04:49 PM  
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You need to cut firebreaks between the areas most prone to wildfires. Think California.
Winds are too high for firebreaks. We did get some rain today, maybe .2 or so, will dry back out pretty quick with the 100 plus temps we have been having. Central and East Texas are getting more rain than we did out West.
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Old 05-12-2011, 07:32 AM  
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Originally Posted by GeoBigJon View Post
Winds are too high for firebreaks. We did get some rain today, maybe .2 or so, will dry back out pretty quick with the 100 plus temps we have been having. Central and East Texas are getting more rain than we did out West.
It's been hanging around but it has yet to open up.

My area is mainly brush country, so trenching doesn't work.
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