permaculture

[Clint Popetz <clint@cpopetz.com>]

On Sun, Dec 26, 2004 at 07:36:14AM -0800, Paul Wheaton wrote:
> A friend told me yesterday about a shrub called "goumi".  The fruit looks a 
> little like a
> cherry and "tastes like PEZ".  He says the bush is nitorgen fixing!!
> 
> True?  Anybody familiar with this shrub?
> 
> I just ordered a bunch of siberian pea shrubs, honey locust trees and 
> russian olive
> trees, all because they are nitrogen fixing and provide food for
> chickens/pigs/cattle/etc.

Aiee, be very careful about russian olive (and its relative autumn
olive.)  They are both very invasive.  Birds eat their berries and
disperse the seeds, and they resprout after cutting/burning.  "Ripping
out Autumn Olive" is a regular task for a friend of mine managing a
chunk of land where the bushes were intentionally planted years ago on
government recommendation to prevent soil erosion.  They're swarming
all over the place, steadily shading out or strangling other species.
In the west, they're eating away at riparian woodlands.

Just like the beloved Sunchoke, some of these permaculture wonder
plants are their own pandora's box.

                        FYI,
                        -Clint