permaculture

[Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>]

Since alders (black) are  common in our wet valley bottoms we don't see 
a direct correlation from their presence to our ag output. I would 
consider their use in a silvilpasture system as one component and I 
imagine goats would browse them yielding goat poop, effective pruning 
thus a release of N. I've used them (like nearly anything carbonaceous) 
as mulch. They seem to prefer wet feet around here (and they shade the 
stream so well) so their use in upland is questionable (feedback?).
Keith

Rick Valley wrote:

> Is anyone in the middle of the continent using Shepherdia?  Alders?
>
> Interesting thing about n-fixers is they'll use excess N that's lying about
> instead of fixing more, so they'll moderate the levels. You tend not to have
> an excess of N unless you do a massive cutting or something else to release
> a great flood of it.
>
> What I see in general is good plant health with a mix incl. N-fixers.
>
> -Rick
>