Description
10 plants Mixed Grab Bag
Elderberry
White Mulberry
Hybrid Poplar
Silver Maple
Thornless Honey Locust
Black Locust
Hybrid Willow
We have a small number of each of the above species left in inventory, we will try to include a diverse and even spread of each of the above plants. Be advised this is a mixed grab bag of the remaining inventory and specific counts are not guaranteed. You will receive at least 10 plants, however we cannot promise specific quantities or ratios.
You probably don’t want to buy this package. No seriously… If you don’t know what to do with the locusts, you may want to reconsider this one.
This is intended for professional use. With all that said, the black locust and honey locust are both an excellent fodder especially for goats and sheep. The black locust has thorns, the honey locust does not, however it will re-seed and produce trees with thorns. Caution should be taken with both of these trees because of the danger they inherently exhibit. However if you know what you’re doing with these, then this package is an AMAZING start towards a very diverse and well rounded fodder system for all kinds of animals.
Elderberry – Sambucus canadensis
USDA 4-9 The fantastic and venerable Elderberry that my family and many others swear by to keep colds and flu away. We make elderberry syrup and jelly and use daily during cold and flu season. Makes excellent wine either standalone or as a blend. Our kids love this as a jelly and especially as a pancake syrup if the jelly didn’t set right. Some of my favorite childhood memories were when we got the rare treat of Elderberry syrup on waffles. Elderberry is NOT A FODDER TREE
White Mulberry – Morus alba
USDA 4-9 Excellent fodder species for herbivores and ruminants. High protein leaf that retains protein late into the season. Excellent shelterbelt and wildlife food source. Probably my #1 pick for a tree fodder for any herbivore. Grows all over the USA and does excellently in almost any type of soil. Vigorous and hardy, often called a trash tree and invasive because it’s hard to kill and resprouts so readily. But that is exactly what makes this a perfect tree for cut and carry tree hay for our animals!
Hybrid Poplar – Populus x sp.
USDA 3-9 Grows like a weed and handles being coppiced and pollarded exceedingly well. Great results feeding rabbits, goats, and sheep a diet of Hybrid Poplar, almost equivalent to alfalfa in most respects. Probably my #2 for all around best fodder leaf for the broadest range of the USA. Also because of it’s rapid growth and high protein content, that means it has great nitrogen available to build healthy soil. Just chop it up and lay it on the soil to rot as mulch! Can be propagated with live stakes to quickly establish a privacy screen or a woodlot for future heating wood. While half the btus of Oak, it can be harvested quicker and easier and grows 300% faster than oak.
Silver Maple – Acer saccharinum
USDA 3-10 Adaptable to a wide variety of site conditions and climates. Leaves are green on top with silvery white sheen underneath. Often flips it’s leaves when barometric pressure drops prior to a storm rolling in. Shallow and fibrous roots make it easy to transplant, regrows vigorously and is an excellent candidate for coppicing for firewood and fodder as well as chop and drop mulch material. Large seeds provide a good wildlife food source.
Thornless Honey Locust – Gleditsia triacanthos
USDA 4-10 One of those trees that you love or you hate! But luckily this one is thornless! Produces highly palatable and sweet edible pods. Sheep can digest the seeds however cattle cannot. If the seed spreads, it will produce thorned honey locust and lemme tell you they are the most wicked looking thorns you’ve ever seen! With that said, it’s another good cut fodder for most livestock. Has beautiful fall yellow color!
Black Locust – Robinia pseudoacacia
USDA 3-9 Has delicious edible flowers in the springtime that honeybees absolutely devour. Makes one of the most famously hard and strong fence posts known. If trained properly it can make excellent clear beams for construction. Very hard wood with high BTU for wood heat. However it does have notoriously sharp and hard thorns that will destroy tractor tires if you’re not careful. This is one of those trees that you need to be careful about bringing onto your property. They reseed and also send out runners underground. It can be maintained and kept in check with regular mowing but this is not recommended for the novice. Trials of this fodder with meat goats have shown excellent potential even over white mulberry for the sheer amount of leaf mass available for browse. Has excellent potential for the woodlot as well as fodder.
Hybrid Willow – Salix x sp.
USDA 3-10 Extremely fast growing willow hybrid. Widely adaptable to most soil types and conditions. Does best in moist to wet environments, tolerates seasonal flooding. Excellent root net enables very effective erosion control. Can be propagated via live stakes to quickly fence a wet area with a living willow fence woven together. If you wound the parts of the branches where two touch, they will graft themselves together and grow into a living net.
