permaculture

[Marsha Hanzi <hanzibra@svn.com.br>]

Euell Gibbons talks a lot about sumac in his book Stalking the Wild
Asparagus, with recipes and nutritional analysis.

Eugene F. Monaco wrote:
> 
> Without getting technical, I can share my experiences with sumac.  For the
> past three years I have been living with a piece of earth in E. Tennessee,
> practicing my caretaking skills.  The sumacs are everywhere but were
> threatened by the wild roses which seem to be an alien species bent on
> taking over the meadow.  My innervision told me to beat back the roses to
> let the more native sumacs thrive a bit; they seem to have a restorative
> quality to them.  This I did last spring; and the sumacs did indeed thrive.
>  I learned from a mentor about making tea from the berries which tastes
> lemony and I'm sure it is high in vitamin C.  The birds also feed on the
> berries all winter.  Last summer I became aware of the Paw Paw which tends
> to be found as an undercanopy tree below larger oaks, etc., and also on the
> edge of a clearing.  I transported one from the Ohio Valley farther north,
> to an area I thought would be good.  Then walking around I noticed a patch
> of young paw paws out in the open but just inches under the meager canopy
> of the sumac.  So we have sumacs acting as a canopy for paw paws.  Well if
> that don't beat all I ever heard around these parts.  Mutations maybe?
> 
> Gene Monaco
> 
> >I have 'inherited' a young sumac (Rhus glabra). It is not native here (in
> Ireland) so I don't know about the plant species it would be associated
> with in its natural habitat in the Eastern US. I'd like to underplant it
> with something at least resembling its 'natural partners'. Grateful for any
> comments.<