permaculture

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

Lisa MacIver wrote:

> I tasted the first goumi from my 3yo shrub this summer (birds got 
> most) - it was *TART*.  More sour and less sweet than pie cherry.
> But flavor wasn't bad... may be wonderful for jam.  It's a close 
> relative of autumn and russian olive (and silverberry), but I haven't 
> heard goumi is invasive anywhere.  

They definitely can be turned into jam if you can deseed the berries.
A mix with wild plum would be great.

Goumi has considerable economic value in the woodworking industry.
The Japanese blacksmiths who make chisels often use goumi for handles,
and these are driving chisels as well as push chisels. They charge more if
the customer wants goumi instead of white or red oak. It could be that a
different variety of goumi is used than the ones primarily used for food.

> Seems to me I asked on list and was told that honey locusts are not 
> actually nitrogen fixing - not enough root nodules, or something (if 
> this list has an archive, you might check that).  As I recall they 

PC list archives are here:

https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/permaculture/

> were N-neutral, so at least you get good fodder without depleting 
> soil... Black locusts are nitrogen fixing.


--
L.F.London
lfl@intrex.net
http://market-farming.com
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech