A Good Harvest

A few days ago I took a trip over to Stoke Newington in search of Ginkgo seeds. The Ginkgo tree is one that is very common, particularly in the middle of cities, because it is quite hardy and stands up well to the effects of atmospheric pollution. Unfortunately, it has on slight problem, its seeds, which have a distinctive, er, aroma that is a mixture of rancid butter and dog poo.

This means that female trees are something of a rarity and the male trees that are usually planted in cities are mostly clones of a small number of individuals. So, even though the tree is very common, it is actually an endangered species because so few trees grow from seed.

I haven’t counted them but I understand that there are 26 trees in one small corner of Stoke Newington, around the edge of a small council estate. Several of these are females, and they produce seed around November each year.

Ginkgo trees in Stoke Newington

I collected a sizeable jar full of seeds and found it strangely enjoyable carrying them home on the bus. I could see everyone looking around, trying to work out where the smell was coming from. Some even checked the bottoms of their shoes. After I got home, though, I found I’d got bits of the fruit stuck in my hair so the smell wouldn’t go away even though I’d left the seeds outside – serves me right, I suppose.

Freshly collected fruit


The seeds generally germinate quite well but they have to be prepared properly. First, the fleshy part of the fruit has to be washed off. This job is best done with gloves on, as the flesh reputedly causes dermatitis in some people (although I’ve never had any problem myself).

The seeds after cleaning


Once all the smelly goo has been washed off, the seeds have to be sanded to make the outer case more permeable to allow water to reach the seed inside. I’ve never been sure exactly how to do this, but I’ve always just rubbed away at one spot to make a small hole, hopefully without damaging the softer parts inside. After this, they need to be soaked in water overnight to allow them to absorb some water and soften a bit. Any seeds that are floating on the water after this aren’t viable, so a few were weeded out. I think I ended up with about 135 seeds, which should be plenty to produce a decent crop of seedlings in the spring.

Small holes made in the outer skin


After that, they have to be kept in a fridge for at least two months so that they know it’s winter. Some people say they should be packed in moss or sand, but I just put them in a bag last time and I had a pretty reasonable germination rate. Not having a fridge on the good ship Universe, I‘ll put this year’s crop in the gas locker although, given the current temperature on the boat, I think they’ll get the idea no matter where I leave them. Brrr!

I’ll post a progress report once they’ve started growing. In the meantime, there’s a mine of information about ginkgo trees at the Ginkgo Pages.

Poisonous Pallets

I feel as if I’ve spent about a month collecting and chopping up pallets. I haven’t a clue how much firewood I’m going to need, so I’ve probably erred on the side of caution (I hope I have!). I must have collected at least 30 of the things, most of which came from one firm in Harlesden.

At one time, the roof was piled four pallets high along its entire length, and I had to stay put until I’d chopped enough of them up to allow me to see where I was going. While I was doing this, a woman cycling along the towpath stopped and asked me whether it was ok to burn pallets. She was under the impression that they were treated with something nasty that makes them give off poisonous fumes. I didn’t know whether she was right or wrong but I thought I’d better check.

What I found out is that pallets have to be treated to ensure that they cannot carry insects or plant diseases to other countries. Usually this involves heat treatment but some pallets, mostly from the USA, have been treated with a chemical called bromomethane, also known as methyl bromide. This is a seriously nasty chemical that damages various parts of the body, may be carcinogenic and attacks the ozone layer for good measure. Apparently it has now been phased out, but some pallets are still in use. My haul included only one such pallet, and I was able to weed it out before it found its way on to the fire (but after I’d spent a fair amount of time chopping it up).

Fortunately, they are usually quite easy to spot. Pallets from outside Europe have a stamp on them that describes how they have been treated. The stamp usually looks something like this:



The logo on the left is made up of the letters IPPC, which stands for International Plant Protection Convention, and HT means that it has been heat treated. Pallets that have been fumigated with methyl bromide will have MB instead. The one I found was clearly labelled, but not in a position where it was easy to spot. Not all countries use this exact stamp, but all those from outside Europe should have either HT or MB stamped on them.

I don't know whether this is news to anyone. I certainly wasn't aware of it until recently, so I hope this is useful to anyone thinking of using pallets as part of their firewood supply.