A row of Blue Gum trees on the "Blue Gum Walk"
You can see more Blue Gum trees to the right of this photo. The white buildings are our junior staff quarters, housing the permanent farm staffMost farms in Tanzania have Blue Gum trees growing on them, and ours is no exception. They were originally planted as wind breaks, or to mark farm boundaries. Originating from Australia, these trees are members of the Eucalyptus family & grow very quickly, consuming vast amounts of water as they do. They can reach up to 55 m (or more !) in height.
The flowers of the Blue Gum tree are a good source of nectar & pollen for bees, and “Blue Gum Honey” is quite delicious to eat. Eucalyptus oil can be extracted from the leaves and bark of the tree, and the leaves are also known to have antiseptic qualities when applied directly to wounds.
These trees, however, are considered to be an invasive species as they spread quickly and can take over the natural vegetation in an area. They are also very messy trees, as their bark shreds and peels off regularly, littering the ground beneath the trees. (Not great on a nice cultivated lawn !) In some parts of Africa they are being removed and classified as a weed.
Africa has a shortage of trees, with entire forests being wiped out (mainly for firewood & charcoal) in areas where there is no control in a matter of years, so I don’t think that the removal of any tree here is really justified. Well, until us humans get the balance right that is. But will we ever ?
The Blue Gum trees on our farm are home to numerous insects, bird species and bush babies – so I would feel terrible removing these trees, which have grown peacefully here for years without causing much disruption to the environment.
The row of Blue Gum trees pictured in the photo above are on a part of the farm which I call the “Blue Gum Walk”. There is a long row of these trees leading up to our water storage area which continues further along to the junior staff quarters, and this is a pleasant, shady walk to take, even in the heat of the day. (One of the Blue Gum trees in this row has fallen down & my daughter loves to play on it and pretend that it is a boat !)
If you continue along this row of trees, they eventually end and after walking across a short stretch of open bush you will come to the edge of the Kilimanjaro forest, which borders our farm. The forest spills down the Western foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and is teeming with small game. I’ll have to do a post about that sometime in the future, and include some photo’s of this dense, lush forest for you to see.
The flowers of the Blue Gum tree are a good source of nectar & pollen for bees, and “Blue Gum Honey” is quite delicious to eat. Eucalyptus oil can be extracted from the leaves and bark of the tree, and the leaves are also known to have antiseptic qualities when applied directly to wounds.
These trees, however, are considered to be an invasive species as they spread quickly and can take over the natural vegetation in an area. They are also very messy trees, as their bark shreds and peels off regularly, littering the ground beneath the trees. (Not great on a nice cultivated lawn !) In some parts of Africa they are being removed and classified as a weed.
Africa has a shortage of trees, with entire forests being wiped out (mainly for firewood & charcoal) in areas where there is no control in a matter of years, so I don’t think that the removal of any tree here is really justified. Well, until us humans get the balance right that is. But will we ever ?
The Blue Gum trees on our farm are home to numerous insects, bird species and bush babies – so I would feel terrible removing these trees, which have grown peacefully here for years without causing much disruption to the environment.
The row of Blue Gum trees pictured in the photo above are on a part of the farm which I call the “Blue Gum Walk”. There is a long row of these trees leading up to our water storage area which continues further along to the junior staff quarters, and this is a pleasant, shady walk to take, even in the heat of the day. (One of the Blue Gum trees in this row has fallen down & my daughter loves to play on it and pretend that it is a boat !)
If you continue along this row of trees, they eventually end and after walking across a short stretch of open bush you will come to the edge of the Kilimanjaro forest, which borders our farm. The forest spills down the Western foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and is teeming with small game. I’ll have to do a post about that sometime in the future, and include some photo’s of this dense, lush forest for you to see.
