permaculture

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

Marimike6@cs.com wrote:

> Very spooky. The plant outgrows ordinary biocides. The only way I know to get 
> rid of it is to come in with bulldozers and grade down to a depth of five 
> feet. This should get rid of most of the roots, which you can then pick out of 
> the dirt and isolate. 

Instead of earth moving & excavating equipment use similar sized wheeled or 
tracked machines
that can harvest it down to ground level, grind, compress and bale it for 
transport
to storage or processing facilities.

For use in biogas and or compost generation:
-cut, shred, compact and bale on the spot in one operation

For use as livestock feed or to burn to generate power:
-cut, and in the case of kudzu unlike grass or grain stalks, shred or chop with haybine-like machine - this will squeeze 
-out most of the moisture in the plant
-windrow the harvested material for drying - just like harvesting hay
-collect, compact and bale for transfer to storage facility; either 
conventional round or square bale it or turn it into
-those giant sized square bales you see every now and then

On land with low organic matter and sparse vegetation, subject to erosion, kudzu would be ideal for long term 
stabilization, maybe permanent, if no other use for the land is envisioned

Seriously, this plant is a a magnificent but underutilized resource.

Let's not be kudzu bigots, instead kudzu Luddites, like me. But, of course, I 
do not have it in my backyard
menacing my dwelling, like Dr. Sludgemeister.