[permaculture] Food forest project at Pine Ridge -assistance
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
venaurafarm at bellsouth.net
Thu Jan 26 09:24:21 EST 2012
On 1/26/2012 8:59 AM, Cory Brennan wrote:
> need to research some of the below that i haven't worked with re:
> toxicity to livestock and invasiveness. I know the Eleangus have been
> a problem with invasiveness in some plains areas. Black Locust is
> highly toxic to horses, and would probably spread here, so even
> though it is an incredible permaculture plant and would have many
> uses, I am hesitant to put it into the systems - we have substituted
> honey locust which is fodder and which livestock love. I'm working
> with the Extension Service and others to ensure I don't bring in
> anything invasive or that would be a problem for horses, cows or
> buffalo.
Fence the horses out and plant what you want.
> A general question for the list: I've been researching honey locust
> and have found contrary information regarding its nitrogen fixing
> abilities and how fast it rots. I love black locust for building
> because it rots so slowly. Some say honey locust rots slowly too -
> not as slowly as black locust. So, how slowly does it rot? We love
> the fact that we could coppice or pollard to get fence posts, for
> instance, and the tree grows back. There is some scientific evidence
> that honey locust fixes nitrogen even though it doesn't have the
> nodules. I haven't completed the research cycle yet, and wondering
> what anybody else has found out about this wonderful tree?
Walnut lumber is probably as rot resistant as black locust. I do not
know times to harvest for useful lumber or posts compared to black
locust. Black walnuts are a valuable cash crop (black walnut cake is
traditional and unique in flavor).
> What zone are you working in? Do you have a paulownia that will
> survive in Zone 4? The ones we researched all said Zone 5, and we are
> far enough into Zone 4 that we hesitate, but are very interested in
> this tree as a lumber crop in silvoculture. I worked with this tree
> in Los Angeles and what an awesome canopy tree for a food forest!
Paulownia wood is another high value cash crop. It can be exported to
Japan where is prized for making tool boxes; it is lightweight and
fairly strong. It is such a valued crop that Paulownia poaching is a
problem in some areas.
> Don't know how it does in a temperate climate tho, especially a harsh
> one.
>
> The Flathead reservation looks beautiful, at least in pictures. Wow,
> actual forests. :-))
>
> We know that honey locust, cottonwood and cedar do great in the
> climate. Eleangus does too which is why it's invasive. Cottonwood is
> a sacred tree used in Sundance and serves so many functions well, so
> that is an important one for the Lakota. I will interview those
> involved to see which of the below they would have most interest in,
> and can I get back to you once I do that?
Eleagnus umbellata is a very important, very high quality food plant.
Though potentially invasive it can be controlled by mowing or manually
with hand tools. It is worth having it in orchards because of its value
as food and medicine (preventive). There have been good discussion
threads on this plant in the nafex and permaculture lists fairly
recently. You can find this in the archives:
Type any of these search commands into your browser's Google search box:
(not into the browser URL location bar)
site: lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/nafex autumn olive
site: lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/nafex eleagnus umbellata
site: lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/permaculture autumn olive
site: lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/permaculture eleagnus umbellata
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