Garden Tips: Horses—and Water, Water Everywhere

By BRUCE SCHWARTZ | Contributing Writer

I got back last night from my cousin’s horse farm in Oakland County, Michigan—30 miles outside of Detroit—just in time to write this August column.

My cousin, Robin, is an equestrian of the highest order. Last weekend, Robin and her horse, Wally, were the champions in class at the World Equestrian Center show in Wilmington, Ohio. She is phenomenal.

I like to compare Robin and Howard’s horse farm to the 1960’s TV show “Green Acres,” starring late Palisadian Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor. The farm is immaculate. Unlike the characters on “Green Acres,” Robin runs the farm while Howard is like the wife in the show and watches.

When I say “water, water everywhere,” Oakland County is quite unique. It has 387 lakes—70 of them unnamed—and 1,329 miles of shoreline. California has 840 miles of shoreline.

Nearly all the hills and lakes in Oakland County were formed during the retreat of the last continental glacier 14,000 years ago. In the proceeding 60,000 years, Oakland County was covered intermittently with as much as one mile of ice.

The state of Michigan has 29,470 miles of shoreline. The four Great Lakes that border Michigan (Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie) have 3,641 miles of shoreline.

Do the math and you will see that the inland lakes in Michigan have 25,829 miles of lake shoreline. Compare that with California and you can see how dry we are here.

America contains 45% of the world’s fresh water, most of it around the Great Lakes. Going to the Great Lakes region this time of year you can see why Indigenous Americans and European settlers were in awe of the “Water-Winter Wonderland.”

Not only that, the industrial revolution was centered around the Great Lakes, moving abundant raw materials by ships to build this country. Detroit is located in Wayne County, next to Oakland County.

General Anthony Wayne was dispatched to the Great Lakes to keep the British from launching a surprise attack during the Revolutionary War. General Wayne also led the Battle of Fallen Timbers that took place near present day Toledo, Ohio.

I would like to emphasize the beauty of green forests, abundant water and beautiful, blue skies that make up this region of our great country that was, and is, so important to all of us.

Bruce Schwartz is a 24-year resident of the Palisades Highlands. He was an agricultural consultant for 20 years, specializing in soil nutrition for crops grown in the Central Valley. He was named Pacific Palisades’ Citizen of the Year in 2017 and a Golden Sparkplug award winner in 2013, and is a member of several community organizations. To reach Schwartz, call 310-779-1773 or email bruceschwartz@rodeore.com.