– By Nan Sterman
For years, I’d heard that redwoods make their own rain, but I never fully appreciated what that meant until now.
I recently visited Renee Shepherd, owner of Renee’s Garden, purveyor of fine vegetables, herb, and flower seeds. I was on assignment for The American Gardener magazine to write a profile of Renee, her personal garden, and the trial garden that surrounds her home, just a few miles inland from Santa Cruz, California.
Renee Shepherd, owner of Renee’s Garden seed company, cools her feet in a stream following our walk in the redwoods at Henry Cowell State Park
When our work was done, Renee took me walking in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. The park is a remnant old growth forest amidst the second generation redwoods that grow throughout the region.
A knowledgeable docent told us that on the earliest maps of the area, this is the tree labeled as the “Fremont Tree”
In addition to being the last stand of the ancient redwoods, the park has the famous “Fremont Tree,” an enormous redwood whose cave-like interior is so large, that explorer Lt. John. C. Fremont was said to have camped inside while on exploring California in 1846.
According to one of the docents, however, this is all legend. Fremont did visit the redwood grove that is now the park and perhaps even camped there, but not inside that particular tree. The docent pointed out another nearby redwood that in earliest maps of the area was the labeled as the “Fremont Tree.” Evidently, someone thought it a grander legend if Fremont were to have slept inside a tree, rather than simply admired it for its grand scale. So, the story was hatched and the name reassigned.
While in the park, I learned that a redwood requires 500 gallons of water every day! Some comes from the ground, and much comes from the ever-present fog, though it was hot and sunny the day we visited.
We were welcomed at this amazing building designed by architect Mickey Muennig and based on the philosophy of “organic architecture”
Since leaves don’t absorb water through their leaves, I wasn’t quite clear how the moisture in fog reaches redwood tree roots. Later in the week, however,the answer came quite unexpectedly at the Post Ranch Inn along the scenic coast of Big Sur, about two hours south of Renee’s home.
It was raining under the trees, but not where we stood in the open. How was that possible?
The air was heavy with mist that blew across Coast Highway as my husband and I drove south from beautiful Monterey, then west to the Inn’s entrance.
The restaurant sits on a high point, accessible through a stand of redwoods, via a long boardwalk and several sets of stairs. As we approached the boardwalk, I noticed puddles under the trees. I looked up and saw raindrops falling through the canopy. The odd thing was, there was no rain out in the open where we were standing. The only rain was under the trees.
Rain under trees? The lightbulb went off in my head. The moisture in the fog condenses onto redwood leaves (scales really), then falls onto the ground where the roots absorb it. This is how redwoods make their own rain!
The beautiful vegetable garden at the Post Ranch Inn sits in a mist filled valley.
