Third harvest, and we finish measuring the Bristlecone Pines

The first thing we did was to get up at 5:00 AM to see the sun rise over the Patriarch Grove at an elevation of 11,300′.  It was dark, cold and early, but nobody wanted to stay in bed.

Even though our water pump developed a leak back in July, we had some radishes, lettuce and potatoes to harvest from the cold frame. Dori Cann, the Barcroft caretaker, had fixed our plumbing with a bit of wire. Thank you Dori!

The battery voltage was still +14.4 volts! Our electrical system works great when it’s not attended. We wish we could say the same about our plumbing.

Then we measured 250 trees in the Schuleman Grove. We now have a data set of 600 trees. Over the winter, Anna and Sarah will analyze the data to see if we can determine any relationship between spiral grain and the tree’s environment.

What we learned:

• We still haven’t worked out the best way to get water from our reservoir to the soil. We have tried a a gravity drip system, a submersible pup, and an in-line pump. The in-line pump was too strong. The submersible pump siphoned water even when it wasn’t on. We need to get a much smaller in-line pump, or go back to the gravity drip system.