The end of the growing season for the Paulownia for sure, with most of the leaves having fallen off, a slight frost and the rest turned Black and then shrivelled and turned brown.
The Eucalyptus carry on regardless, so although I am very curious to see how the Paulownia develop, I am still very much a fan of Eucalyptus and increasingly so:
- To start with I was growing the Eucalyptus and the Paulownia for firewood. I won’t give up on the Paulownia just yet, though the Eucalyptus are so far much better at growing sustainable fuel.
- Floral foliage wasn’t something I’d considered, though it is very popular
- Flowers for bee’s. I’ve had quite a lot of flowers in the last year from my Eucalyptus and the bees love them 🐝 with the Paulownia renowned for masses of purple flowers in early spring, another reason I am not giving up on the Paulownia.
- Constructional timber 🤔 both Eucalyptus and Paulownia provide good quality timber with varied uses and as I am very keen on my wood working project, I look forward to trying to mill and use my own home grown timber 😉
The Fox
Those of you who have followed along in the last twelve months will have noticed videos featuring my tame fox which I now think may be pregnant, its certainly become quite fat in the last four to six weeks !
The fox isn’t just for amusement, those it has been great to have it come visit.
There are Hares around here, and I love seeing them as well, though Paulownia are particularly palatable, and I doubt I would have had anything left with out the presence of the fox.
Lets consider the economics 🤔
- The fox has been 100% effective at keeping the Hares away
- It costs perhaps €5 max per week to feed the fox a few hard boiled eggs and the occasional chicken; it also gets the left over bread and other scraps from the kitchen including cheese.
- I have around a hundred Paulownia, so if I was buying tree guards, around €3 each and I doubt they would be 100% effective as Hares like other animals looking for a meal can be very determined.
So the fox is good economics 😉 as well as being fun to have around 😁
