Tuesday, May 5, 2015

The Black Locust continued....





I really should have written more about the Black Locust tree last night but I was so tired everything kinda went into a blur.

This tree is actually a very important specie in the Eastern United States and out West as far as Kansas (and even further it seems) although recently it has lost much of it's standing and many see it as nothing more than a weed tree now.

Nothing could be further from the truth. While the Black Locust is toxic to most livestock and although the seeds are rumored to be edible they are so small as to hardly be worth while. The Black Locust has some of the best wood a person can harvest. It is extremely rot resistant, makes great fence posts and some of the best firewood around. I prefer it to Oak truth be told.

This specie was once so sought after that it can be found growing wild all over from Kansas on East for sure and is even grown in France and Italy. In Europe they batter and fry the blooms and use groves of the trees for mono-crop honey.

The picture below shows the trees original range.




I know for a fact I have seen huge groves of Black Locust blooming well up into Iowa and out into Kansas and along I-70 East through Ohio. It appears the tree was originally limited to the mountain ranges of the Ozarks and Appalachia but was planted far and wide during the 17 and 1800's.

While I don't have any Black Locust on my property, mostly because it is so toxic to horses, I know my bees are out working the blooms that are nearby. I actually have a swarm trap only about a mile away that is right next to a small grove of Black Locust trees and I got my second swarm of the year in it so far.

In a grid down situation when we are all more dependent on our local resources knowing if and where you have some Black Locust nearby could prove important.

Ya never know.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!


4 comments:

  1. Good bit about that tree. None of those around here though! Wish I had some fot resistant wood growing here!

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  2. Some guy told me that the locusts around here are being attacked by some bore that kills them, I see dead ones around where we live but I believe they are honey locusts. Most have shelf fungus growing on them.

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  3. hi. second attempt to post.
    many kinds of locust.
    once grown for ships' masts a specie that was strong, straight and tall.

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  4. Never underestimate the need for a good fencepost. I have also read they are very rot resistant.

    ReplyDelete

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