Subject: Re: [permaculture] Busting Up Sidewalks / Invasive Plants
Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 08:31:35 -0500
Kirby Fry wrote:
> Miekal,
>
> >> I once bought 3 carob seeds for $5, sounds like an expensive proposition
> to me. <<
>
> Yeow! $5 for three seeds? I guess there weren't any carob trees around.
> Just where do you live, Miekal?
Im in southwestern WI, Kirby. On top of the fact I paid $5 for 3 seeds they
never germinated. Somebody later told me that they thought the seeds needed
to
be fresh & perhaps these I bought weren't.
>
>
> >> Makes a great browse for goats & sheep [Japanese knotweed] though we did
> have a problem at one time with our goats over-eating from it & getting
> bloat. <<
>
> How long have you been running goats?
The goat "experiment" at Dreamtime lasted about 6-7 years or so. & we never
had
more than 3. My son & I still have a pet pygmy goat who "mows" our lawn. Too
many artist-types here, not enuf folks who can carry out daily chores like
milking goats day after day, year after year. We never butchered any for
food,
tho a couple different goats became drum heads after they passed away.
> About how many do you run? Do you
> milk them or eat them?
>
> Just out of curiosity do you think if you shredded the knotweed then put
> goats back on it that they could keep it in check without bloating?
I didnt look into this too much because we have a lot of different options for
feeding them.
>
>
> Re: black berries. I've heard pigs are about the only thing that will
> seriously knock it back and that it requires about 14 years to do so!
We've often pondered if a pig tractor could make a dent in our polygonum,
quackgrass or blackcap patches.