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  • From: Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>
  • To: Homestead mailing list digest <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Homestead] Native Crops Urban Agriculture
  • Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 23:48:04 -0700

Happy Columbus Day, everyone! We probably should call it Discovery Day. On this day in 1492, thousandth cousins from the Central Asian lineage were reunited after 1000 generations of separation.

Here's a webpage about using You'll notice one of the native clovers we mentioned, T. wormskioldii. This species was once grown for food, alongside Pacific silverweed (Potentilla anserina var. pacifica) and Northern rice root (Fritillaria camschatscensis). At other webpages you can read about these were companion plants grown by the Kwakwa'wakwa'. It has always been my thing to grow a variety of root crops from around the world, so I can't wait to add these to my collection.

http://www.cityfarmer.org/nativecrops.html

However, my research on likely native clovers for unirrigated forage doesn't seem that promising. Springbank clover (T. wormskioldii) is indeed a water hog, as you see here. Brewer's clover (T. breweri) is somewhat obscure, with only one picture online, and few references in books. Tomcat clover (T. wildenovii AKA tridentata) and long-foot clover (T. longipes) sound the most promising, especially the subsp. 'nevadensis' or 'oregona' of the latter. Unfortunately, big-head clover (T. macrocephalum) has some cultivation information in the Jepsen manual, followed by the ominous abbreviation "DFFCLT".

I'm always in a rush, since Gaea has not smiled upon us and bestowed her life-giving elixir, as I now get to spend my days moving a Rainbird frantically about, instead of canning grape juice and pickles during a leisurely rain.

Bill
S. Oregon coast


  • [Homestead] Native Crops Urban Agriculture, Bill Jones, 10/13/2005

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