North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>]

On 1/8/2012 6:08 PM, Michele Stanton wrote:
> I haven't heard anyone recently mention this, but Autumn olive is on the
> list of invasive plants for North Carolina, and for many other eastern
> states.  NC Botanical Garden, among other entities, recommends getting rid
> of them where possible.

Well, they are not on _my_ list, nor is kudzu or sericea lespedeza.
I think you'll find that much of this "invasive plant" propaganda may 
well be spawned by the herbicide industry and nurtured by lazy gardeners 
and landscapers. Herbicide use is a creeping scourge.

The worst invasives, across the globe, are GMO crops.

> Ohio State did some taste-tests a few years ago of ice-cream syrups made
> from eleagnus fruit.  Tasters preferred strawberry, but autumn olive syrup
> was still pretty yummy imho.

So, there's a use for them. Instead of destroying them, harvest and eat 
them.

> Why not collect fruit from existing wild stands instead of planting more?

I will as I have a good stand of them on my property. I was looking for 
the variety shown and harvested in the video I posted a link to as that 
had larger fruit.