Planting Mesquite Trees

In the desert there aren't many trees. Namely because there's not much rain. We get about 11 inches per year. Some places like where my husband is from (Missouri) can get that much in a week! We usually only get rain for three months out of the year (monsoon season in the summer) and the other 9 months are normally full of sunshine...with a lot of wind on some days. As much as 50 miles an hour (but typically more like 10-15 mph). So we did a little research on what trees would do best in this climate and decided to plant some mesquite trees. This is what one looks like fully grown.

At the end of the summer there are dried pods which can be ground into flour.

Last summer we collected a five gallon bucket full from mesquite trees in the area and I've been blending the pods in my Vitamix and then sifting it and using the flour in tortillas, cornbread, pancakes, crackers, and I even made a mesquite syrup. I bought a whole cookbook with recipes that use mesquite. Back in the day, Native American Indians used mesquite a lot. It tastes sweet and it has a ton of medicinal uses as well as health benefits! Here is a taco bowl I made with some of the flour.

So, my kids got to see the whole process of how to plant native trees. This was one of our Sunday projects. Not sure what the fetish is with sticking their tongues out when a picture is being taken of them, but here they are, standing on the work-bench, proudly helping to fill pots with soil.

Orion is helping to sweep the spilled dirt off the work bench. Below is David digging the holes with the mattock. Just for the record, I did my share of mattock swinging. Let me tell you ladies, it "strengtheneth your arms" (see Proverbs 31:17)

Believe it or not, in the summer everything you see that is dry and pale yellow turns a vibrant fresh green! I'll post "before and after pictures" in the summer when we get some rainfall. David and I dug 17 holes!

 

Thanks Pat for getting the kids this wagon! It still gets used :)

 

Mesquite trees are fascinating in that they have a very long tap-roots. Look closely and you can see a root dangling down. The roots are about 18 inches and there's only four inches of tree on top. They have to go down really deep to find water. That's how they survive here so well in the desert.


You can see the tap root as a shadow on David's shirt. On the right is him filling in the hole with dirt.

 

 Orion and Omega helped to fill the holes with water.

All of the white things you see were once a long pipe that we used to cut smaller rings and shoved in the dirt to protect the trees from the guinea hens or chickens pecking at them. It also helps us from accidentally stepping on them! With the right growing conditions mesquite trees will grow 13 to 25 inches per year. So, in five years we'll hopefully have 10 foot trees which will provide some wind block. 

Lessons from all of this? Not sure I have any. It was just a neat family project. Do you see lessons from it? Please share :)