permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

georg parlow wrote:

> > Outside of cabinetry, trim are there other applications that it is well
> > suited too?

As a furnitute wood it is outstanding and cheap. It is very stable and is used 
where you need components that do not warp, curl or shrink, i.e. drawer sides.
It is one of the best woods for use as plank siding for homes, outbuilding and 
barns or shops; it is stable and long lasting with little maintenance other than 
paint. Poplar board and batten siding looks great (you can often get very wide 
poplar boards).

> toothpicks and boxes, according to uphof's "economic plants of the world"
> (by memory, since book is 3 km away).

Maybe you can grow shittake mushrooms in poplar logs.

A lot more than that. It excels as a nectar source for bees and makes some of 
the best tasting honey. Fall color is very nice, excellent shade and windbreak,
a low maintenance, fast growing tree. Contrary to other input so far there's no 
more problem with falling dead limbs than with many other trees, i.e. pine, 
sweetgum, ash, sycamore, hickory; certainly less so than maple. It is as long 
lived as many deciduous shade trees, maple for one. It is a valuable tree. I can
understand why anyone with a large stand of them would have them removed, even 
for income. If they were to be sawed for lumber, that might be a good use, 
otherwise their value as forest is far greater than the small price they would 
bring from a logger on the stump. They complete the forest ecosystem, enhance 
rainfall and oxygen production, provide cover and windbreak as well as wildlife 
habitat.

Maybe we can convince Frank to leave them as permanent forest on his land.

LL
--
L.F.London
lfl@intrex.net
http://market-farming.com
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/pcwiki/index.php/london