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More Invasive "Weeds:" Autumn Olive and Tree of Heaven

5/1/2014

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The roadside edge of our property is plagued with invasive weeds--in particular, trees of heaven and autumn olives. While the neighbors have successfully eradicated these "weed" shrubs and trees with multiple applications of herbicides, we have allowed them to grow and thrive on our lot.
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Autumn olive growing along the road at the front of our property
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More autumn olive shrubs and trees of heaven on the east of the driveway
In all honesty, we allowed them to stay, in part, due to a general lack of caring. We had been prioritizing other jobs on the property, especially the garden (which we either move or add onto every year) and just hadn't had much time to worry about the plants growing along the road.  Now that we are adding a farm stand along the driveway, though, we decided we should clear away some shrubs to open visibility to the stand. We quickly identified the "problem" shrubs as Elaeagnus umbellate (autumn olive) and the trees as Ailanthus altissima, or  tree of heaven.

Both of these species are excellent in permaculture settings, especially as biomass accumulators. They will grow back vigorously after being cut back. We could use the "chop and drop" method, just lopping off the top of the plants and dropping the branches on the ground to leave as a natural ground cover and edge for native species, or we could keep the wood to use for firewood, trellises, mulch, or hugelkultur.

For some reason I have always really liked the trees of heaven. They are quite beautiful and have a tropical-type appearance, and since we really don't have any other trees on the property yet, we have been very hesitant to cut them down. We also learned that the roots, leaves, and bark of the tree of heaven have been used for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Even modern pharmaceutical companies are researching the trunk and root of this tree as a potential drug. We may experiment making a simple tincture using the root-bark. Outside of gathering a bit of root bark and lopping off the top of the trees, we are allowing the trees of heaven to stay put.
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Even more valuable, arguably, are the autumn olives; however, we decided to cut them back anyway, simply because they were completely blocking visibility of our driveway. Luckily, they will grow back thicker than ever and we can continue to harvest their fruit, and chop and drop.

At one time, autumn olives were widely planted by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service for purposes of attracting wildlife and serving as a windbreak. Plants can start bearing fruit in their third year, and just one mature plant may produce several pounds of edible fruit. The ripe, red fruits, which are extremely high in lycopene (15 times higher than tomatoes) are especially favored by birds, who readily scatter seeds. Some farms are even planting autumn olive as a cash crop.  

Need more reasons not to hate autumn olives? They are also great nitrogen fixers and nectar producers. We are considering including autumn olives in the fruit tree guilds of our soon-to-be planted food forest. Get more info on the value of autumn olives as a cash crop here.

Since both of these plants are considered to be invasive and threatening to native species, we would not likely order in autumn olives or trees of heaven and introduce them to our property. But fortunately for us, they are already here.

If you can't beat them, join them!


- Diana

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An unexpected surprise revealed itself when we cut back the autumn olive shrubs: three wild raspberry plants! One wild raspberry is shown in the middle of this picture.
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Tiger Eye Sunflowers are another plant that has been readily propagated by birds on our property. The seedlings are popping up everywhere and we couldn't be more thrilled! These seedlings will be relocated to the back gardens, though, so they don't choke out the tulips and each other.
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WHY DANDELION HILLS?

3/17/2014

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In 2011, we moved to our location in the spring after a winter with heavy snowfall.  As we became acclimated to our new home, spring began to emerge and proceeded with its annual conquest over the last remaining vestiges of snow.  While focused on the interior of the dwelling, we were struck by the veritable anarchy with which the dandelions were demonstrating on our new front lawn.  The initial reaction was one of amazement, but not for the "right" reasons.  Both Diana and I were raised with the notion that dandelions were "weeds" and needed to be exterminated from the bright green palette we called a "lawn."  

What was interesting was that despite this cognitive response, the visceral reaction of seeing a flowing yellow field of pure sunshine was also noted by both of us.  The presentation was made more startling with the juxtaposition of the golden wave to the neighbor's pure green lawn.  The dividing line was so apparent between the two that it appeared as if the Maize Rebellion and Emerald Empire were facing off in an epic showdown right at that property line.  Having known the neighbor for some time, this was not a surprise.  In fact, upon closer inspection it became apparent that the Emerald Empire was winning as it had taken over some of our new kingdom.  In other words, the weed-hating neighbor had sprayed onto our property.  A quick consult with him confirmed this as he shared his concern that our Maize Rebellion was a clear and present danger to his Emerald Empire due to our secret weapon . . . an aerial attack of millions of paratroopers.  Never mind the fact that dandelion seeds can be carried for miles by the wind--that extra few feet was apparently pivotal.  

At the start, this was just humorous to us as we were not offended by the invasion due to our own archaic view of lawns.  However, the vision of that field of dandelions stuck with us for that year.  As they died off, it became clear that we were far from having an Emerald Empire as our soil was abhorrent.  The next year we were graced with the dazzling spectacle of our dandelion crop once again.  By this time, we were questioning the necessity of exterminating the "King of the Lawn" as we were distracted by our first garden (more to come on this one) and the fact that we secretly enjoyed the passive-aggressive power we held over the neighbor, even though it became apparent that his Emerald Empire had advanced a few more feet into our kingdom.  The start of our "organic" gardening had led us to confront his use of spraying and we were met with the thought that not only did he think he was doing us a favor, but it almost seemed as if he was programmed to unleash a terminating assault on the innocent flaxen flora.  (As you may have guessed by now, he is more than just a neighbor. . . he is my father-in-law.)

It's safe to say that we were not totally clear as to why our front yard was a flowing yellow tsunami every spring, until this past fall when we began our expedition into sustainability and permaculture.  It became clear very quickly that our "Kings of the Lawn" were there for a reason.  Remember how I said our post-dandelion lawn was a disaster?  Well, the dandelion was already telling us this, we just had not listened . . . or better yet, did not know the language.  The dandelion is especially prone to propagate on hard soils that may be lacking in a number of essential soil minerals.  Due to its taproot, the dandelion will literally bust through hard clay soils, slowly drilling holes one by one to loosen the soil and mine for minerals and water.  As it dies, it leaves is edible greens behind to accumulate on top of the ground, deteriorating and becoming new soil . . . also known as bioaccumulation.  The Maize Rebellion was not waging war on the Emerald Empire as previously thought, it was waging war on our horrendous soil texture and quality, which had become more and more apparent due to the recurring sore lower back after a tumultuous ride on the lawn mower.  

More research on our part found that in the world of bees, dandelions are an essential early food as they emerge from their winter hibernation and await the onslaught of flowering summer annuals and perennials.  Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health divulged a number of unknown uses, including dandelion root as an incredibly effective and safe diuretic, blossoms as a wine or vinegar, and the greens as a salad green or in a tonic tea due to the potent combination of vitamins and minerals.  This list leads her to state: "Dandelion is, I'm convinced, one of the great tonic herbs of all times."  While there is no argument on our part, a quick look on the Internet at some forums at permies.com and other sites shows that these are only a few uses of this "weed."

So as we venture into this new endeavor, it became almost silly how we arrived at the name.  While I had thought of the name earlier in the week, it had slipped my mind in the chaos of whatever else was going on.  I do know that I had come to the name by asking myself, "What are we the best at growing?"  Of course, we aren't growing them per se, but we have yet to stage a suburban assault on them and we have been working to keep the Emerald Empire at bay as best we could.  So as we continued to dig deep in the crevasses of our cerebral cortices, it came to me again while in the shower . . . of course.  As I was preparing to yell to Diana to come and hear my idea, I heard her approaching.  Before I could share my news, she exalted her forthcoming idea with glee.  At this point, I began to laugh.  I almost knew what was coming before she said it because her level of joy was what I was expecting from her when I shared with her my idea.  Of course she shared some offshoot of our name utilizing dandelion, leading us to settle on Dandelion Hills.  Serendipitous?  I think so.  Does it fit?  Absolutely!  Will the Maize Rebellion bring the Emerald Empire over to the Saffron Side?  Stay tuned!



- Trevor
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    Dandelion Hills is a family-owned farm in Caro, Michigan, established to provide beyond-organic food to its owners and the local community while improving the soil quality.

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