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Page A—8 Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021
A plague of locusts
olks have the unkind-
Fest things to say about
locusts. Whether it’s
the insect scourge or the trees
known as “honey” or “black”
locust, there is abundant op-
probrium for all these fine
organisms.
Locust insects, like deer,
can be fattened on your food,
especially grain, before you
eat them. Their appetite for
agricultural products is at
the root of their unpopularity.
Fried, smoked or dried, they
have been a staple since at
least John the Baptist dipped
them in wild honey. v
Speaking of honey, the
honey locust has pods that
are delicious to sloths. It
also bristles with thorns long
, enough to kill a man and
strong enough to puncture
tires. I’m not here to say any-
thing in defense of honey lo-
custs, though I have an open
mind about their possible
virtues.
The black locust is
similarly thorny, though not
quite so forbiddingly so. Its
pods are said to taste like
.sugar snap peas. It is a ni-
trogen-fixing tree with very
valuable wood that feeds ev-
erything from insects to pol—
linators to deer.
I should mention here
that it is on the King County
Weeds of Concern list. Like
honey locust, it is
aggressively expansive and
one tree can spread as far as
20 feet away via root runners.
m
ALEX FETfilERE
PENINSULA
PERMACULTURE
An eruptive grove of
thorny trees hard enough to
dull Chainsaws explains why "
some curse this restorative
plant. Particularly in the
built environment, black lo-
cust can make for a lot of bad
blood and burst boundaries.
Those same properties
make it a splendid healer of
abused land. I planted sev-
eral black locusts years ago in
partial shade to colonize an
eroding sandy hillside, and so
far they have done nothing of
the sort.
One out of five died and
the rest are growing steadily,
each having put on a foot
since 2019. They’re grow-
ing in an area that'lacks a1-
der, and I hoped they would
spread by runners to hold the
soil while fixing nitrogen.
In seven years, black 10-
cust can provide outstand—
ing firewood, and in 20 years
it can be milled for lumber.
This wood resists rot better
than pressure-treated lumber
in ergency Assistance
shington State Departrnemrfif’
morial Hall ‘ x
11, WA 98584
Wed. 9 a.m.-12 pm. and 1 p.m.~4 p.m._
mergency financial assistance, food assistance,
upport, motel/hotel for homeless vets, rental
tility assistance.
ent
cc home page
9:00 a.m.~5:00 pm.
ipia Hwy N., Suite 420 ‘
Adrian R. M g
DCMHS .
Shelton, WA 98584
(360) 462-3320
Shelton, WA 9
(360) 426-45
. ~Whyte', Ph.D., LMHC, CCMHC,
x,
Loco s/l .
find/lull farm/I) warm}! .
Plate from “The North American Sylva,” 1819, illustrating
black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). Public domain
while at the same time it’s
safe enough for children’s
picnic tables. It is often used
as trellising in organic Vine-
yards, or as fence posts.
Plenty of articles will
warn you about growing it,
but those that I found were
referring to suburbs and cit-
ies. Any pioneer plant, which
by definition wants to enrich
conditions for successor trees
to come, should be carefully
considered before siting in the
built environment.
On a sandy hillside under
a canopy of big-leaf maple,
it’s hard to see black locust
becoming “invasive.” Along a
steep narrow driveway, sup-
porting bamboo plantings, it
can only descend a 50—degree
slope or infiltrate the gravel
and get pulverized.
Nearby properties are
unlikely to be affected. Seed
pods don’t travel well via
wind or birds, and germina-
tion rates are poor besides.
Akiva Silver, in the excel-
lent.“Trees of Power: Ten Es-
sential Arboreal Allies,” says
black locust will shade itself
out within 80 years, leav-
ing rich black soil for native
rooting plants. If you aren’t
sure, just mow down the root ,
sprouts as they come up and
cut the tree for firewood while
it’s still a manageable size. It
will be building your soil no
matter what you do to it.
David Ahlgren, permacul-
ture instructor and earthwork
specialist, likes to say that
“where there is a thorn, there
is an edge.” Like Himalayan
blackberry grows in disturbed
areas at the interface be—
tween humanity and wilder-
ness, protecting these demili-
tarized zones with a hedge of
thorns and sprawling roots,
black locust can build back
better — but without all the
hot air and haggling. ‘
I Alex Féthiére has lived on
Harstine Island long enough
to forget New York City,
where he built community
gardens and double-dug his
suburban sod into a victory
garden. He can be reached at
onlandist@gmail.com.
‘a Veterans Servi’ «C
Aofi'ers long-term
ce.
or can '1-800-562L2398 so the
efits you’ve earned. ‘