Plant of the Weekish - Black Locust

Black Locust

Thunder Bay winters are cold and long as we all know well enough. As a result, there are not a lot of tree species that do well in this climate compared to other parts of the world.

One valuable plant in the permaculture toolbox is Black Locust. In permaculture, every aspect of a design system is employed to perform multiple functions, and Black Locust offers many.

Firstly, this tree is a very fast growing legume. The jury is still out with regards to whether or not this tree fixes Nitrogen in the soil, but in the opinion of many leading permaculturists around the world, it does.

Not only is it a long term support species for a food forest - providing nitrogen rich mulch via chop n' drop, the wood is extremely hard and resistant to rot once it dries. This means that the wood is great for making tool handles and fence posts.

The tree also coppices well, which means that it can be cut back periodically and the wood used as firewood for efficient and sustainable heating solutions like a rocket mass heater. 

As a fire wood, this tree produces one of the highest BTU ratings and on a par with oak. It puts out significantly more heat than anything else capable of growing in our climate.

The foliage and seed pods of the black locust make great animal fodder (the seed pods are edible by humans), and the dried seeds can be used as chicken feed. 

Black locust produces abundant flowers that bloom in the spring are a favourite fodder for bees. The resulting honey is light, mild, and does not readily crystallize. In other words, it produces high quality honey.

Black locust puts on foliage late in the spring, which means that under-story plants get a good dose of spring sun.

Black locust is a rather thorny tree, which makes it difficult to handle, but on the positive side, it makes for effective animal barriers, and bird nesting habitat.

Considering all the benefits that black locust brings to a cold climate permaculture system, this tree is a very valuable asset.