5 TREES to improve YOUR SOIL- Nitrogen fixing trees (part 3)

Part 3 in this series on Nitrogen Fixing Plants. Trees that improve and fertilize your soil. You may not like them but they are doing a job for you. We look at why use nitrogen fixing trees and 5 trees that we use in the Permaculture Orchard.
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TIMECODES:
00:33 honey locust
Reasons WHY we use Nitrogen Fixing Trees in the Permaculture Orchard
01:41 nodulation in Red and White clovers
04:18 Fixes nitrogen or improves the soil
04:24 Living stake
05:27 Living post
06:12 Light shade
07:14 Great mulch
07:39 Great forage
08:53 For biodiversity
11:48 Serves as a barrier for insects
12:54 Thorny vs Thornless and Why trees and shrubs have thorns
16:00 black locust
20:11 Kentucky coffee tree
21:05 Russian olive
25:34 Alder
27:10 summary of benefits of Nitrogen fixing trees
27:41 Other soil improving trees
NOTE : Great reference of Honey locust nitrogen fixation
faculty.virginia.edu/honeyloc...

[@GeX2X]

Stefan your videos are the antidote to these maddening times. Bless ya mate, your happy enthusiastic vibe is infectious 🤗

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@judithkopchak2291]

Stefan is one of the best at sharing and explaining how Permaculture works. I've been watching the videos for 5 years? It's been awhile. Even though he has passed, keep his videos circulating. Great information and style of learning. 💗

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Hasn’t passed just been away from KZbin over the summer. Lots of new content coming very soon

[@KaramelLife]

Bruh- I just recently found this channel, and your comment gave me a scare. Live long uncle stefan 😅

[@BookieLukie21]

​@StefanSobkowiak thank goodness, this comment gave me a scare! Like, did I miss sonething? ❤ from Vermont!

[@erwinbrubacker7488]

Thanx for not passing, I have more needs to learn. Shalom.

[@Starfucker50]

My wife dips Black Locust (Robinia) flower clusters into a pancake-like dough and fries it for 1-2 min. in oil. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S.

[@mamasnoopy4692]

Kids love them!!

[@adyingbreedofman9112]

Being a fourth generation Finnish American lumberjack I sure value trees differently than most. Great video with excellent information that isn't talked about often enough. Honey Locust has always been one of my very favorites, beautiful branch structure, strong and fibrous wood with such a beautiful golden color but a delicate look thanks to it's fern like leaves. The Black Locust and Norway are very invasive here in MA. I believe both are on the list. Yet the Black Locust has enormous benefits as you discussed. Not to mention it's lumber is nature's pressure treated wood. You couldn't make it rot if you tried. Hence why farmers and my great grandfather have been making split rail fence and tool handles from it since the olden days. Thanks again for an awesome, fun and educational video. I learn something every time. Take care my friend.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Thanks, gotta love and cherish your roots. Yes we tend to forget the different species wood value.

[@platygaia5303]

I especially like your time codes, which let me pause, open up a new tab to study that plant, rewind to refresh my memory and take notes. Thanks for the barrier insect info too. Orchard growing is not as simple as hopping on a lawmower. Maybe that's why people don't grow fruit any more. It requires effort and oh my gosh, learning!!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

You got it. Overall less time needed with fruit trees than grass.

[@sappir26]

Love your humor. I'm originally from Rouyn, Quebec but now living in Israel. Would love to have my own Permaculture Farm one day soon so I truly appreciate your videos.

[@GoBlesstheSky]

Honey Locusts are adapted to live with elephants. The seeds are not easily dispersed by horses. Mastodons and mammoths like modern elephants can/could eat the sweet seed pods and spread the seeds widely as they do today in Africa. They are orphan plants that have lost their animal partner. Another example of this is the Avocado. The only animal that spreads its seed is man. The large animals that once could eat their fruit and pass the seed are now extinct.

[@MichaelWaddingtonDO]

American Persimmons were mastodon food too I hear

[@MichaelWaddingtonDO]

“Persimmons are considered only slightly anachronistic, unlike pawpaws, honey locust, and osage orange-3 plants that were entirely dependent on extinct megafauna for dispersal. A mastodon likely gobbled down persimmons by the hundreds and spread them all over the landscape. Persimmons have been found in mastodon dung excavated from the Aucilla River in Florida. The tree can resprout vegetatively, so they could have withstood heavy proboscidean pruning. However, persimmons are still common and not local in distribution like other more anachronistic species. In abandoned fields in Georgia persimmon is almost as common loblolly pine, oak, and sweetgum-the pioneer trees of early forest succession here.”

[@chitekwe]

Pigeon peas (if they can be grown where you garden )are one of the best nitrogen improving plants, and they produce abundant amounts of peas over several years. And most of all they are delicious.

[@erikjohnson9223]

He is several thousand miles too far north. Siberian pea shrubs (Caragana) are probably the equivalent, though they have a shatter problem. Cercis canadensis (native though maybe a few hundred miles further south) is also edible, but I doubt it fixes nitrogen. The pods of honeylocust are a famine food for people and supposedly great cattle forage. Kentucky Coffee Tree is poisonous, but often has beautiful lumber (texture of ash, color approaching cherry).

[@d.w.stratton4078]

@@erikjohnson9223 we need to start selecting for dehiscent pods in some of these edible perennials. I bet 5-10 generations would do wonders.

[@m.katherinelamont1873]

So much good information thank you! I am growing as a gardener and every year I enjoy learning more and more😊

[@epoqueepique2044]

Avec Evelyne Leterme (Conservatoire d'Aquitaine), et AFAF Agroforesterie, la meilleure chaîne pour les vergers expérimentaux, merci Stephan !

[@johncollins1602]

Great man, thank you for this info. You and , Skill Cult are the best fruit & permaculture channels on yt

[@cristymenapace677]

Love everything about your videos! Thank you for taking the time to share your extensive knowledge!

[@amandaliberty08]

Great stuff again! I think I'll have a great start when planting this fall from all this wisdom. Thank you.

[@irishelk3]

Thanks for your channel Stefan, I first tuned in at the start of the pandemic, you gave me some well needed enthusiasm during the boredom. Hello from Ireland.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Welcome aboard!

[@an-tm3250]

I love your perspective on beneficial weeds, the importance of dandelion and EVERYTHING in GOD'S creation. Thank you for sharing your fantastic perspective to respect all life. EVERTHING has awareness & strives to survive.

[@jjime1175]

Animals like sheep, cows and ducks eat the leave for the tannins which help regulate the worm population in the stomach. I feed my donkey and sheep this all the time when I pull up little saplings.

[@CompostWatcher]

As a child, I would eat black locust blooms. Good memories.

[@tehfuqizg0inon588]

Love the info you put out thanks for the practical nature knowledge man!

[@emilmoldovan1789]

Lovely!!! Thank you for sharing the best of your experience

[@sugarbomb26]

Your videos and knowledge are amazing!

[@gabib.1780]

I always categorised all these trees as acacias.. Thank you for the lesson, I am now driven to find more about the differences. I remember us kids eating the flowers.. Lovely!

[@norfolkgarden]

Love the fragrance of Russian olive! They are considered highly invasive now in Virginia/North Carolina. Used as a highway shrub extensively. Now competing with kudzu.

[@nicholassteel5529]

Lovely, interesting and informative video...I can smell the smells and hear the bees❤️✌️👍☀️🌈

[@vexator19]

Thank you for your videos. I always learn a lot.

[@chandralopez7635]

Thank you for sharing you knowledge and experience! So valuable. I have learned so much!

[@krystynam4076]

You are so much fun to watch.

[@peterellis4262]

So much good information. Thank you! One thing about succession, recovering degraded land or transitioning disturbed land from one stage to another, is that whatever plants will grow in the conditions at the site are beneficial to soil health and development. Even so-called 'invasives' are succeeding because conditions at the time favor them, but their own activity creates soil that supports the next stage of succession and so become self-limiting if they are allowed to develop. I've got a couple of acres out of my twenty acre site that I am transitioning from full forest to a stage that allows more annual vegetable success. In the process this newly opened space is riotous with nightshade and poke weed, american fireweed, various grasses. I'm accepting all of these as contributing fertility to the soil, promoting microbial growth, adding carbon. By chop and drop management these volunteer 'weeds' are serving as cover crops to improve and change our soil, making this area more conducive to growing annual vegetables. We're keeping the rest of the site in forest, while working to introduce more "productive" varieties into the existing Oak/Maple biome.

[@wolfgangdavid8121]

About growing black and red currant we also grew sweet white currents and goose berries. In southern Germany I’m in Florida now growing bananas avocado and started jackfruit and loquat

[@erikjohnson9223]

Watch out for Redbay Ambrosia Beetle (laurel wilt fungus) on the avocados. Lots of invasive pests coming in from Chinese shipping nowadays.

[@d.w.stratton4078]

You lucky SOB. All I want is to be able to grow jackfruit. It's so damned good. Somebody get a cold hardy jackfruit cultivar pleeeeeease?

[@kmsvensson]

Wow! So informative. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

You are so welcome!

[@jordyhumby]

I enjoy your videos. I learn alot. Thank you. You're great!

[@robinz2000]

You're enthusiasm for what you talk about is just amazing. Thank you so much. I don't have an orchard but you are giving me ideas for my 11 acres. Thank you so much I really appreciate it. Please continue your great work

[@StefanSobkowiak]

11 acres! Oh the possible abundance for you, your family and the local wildlife. HUGE potential.

[@robinz2000]

@@StefanSobkowiak exactly I'm very excited. We are VERY dry here but there is potential. Thank you for you enthusiasm. It's catching. I'm looking forward to the next several years to see what this property could be. Thank you again so very much for being a enthusiastic mentor. ☺️

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Look up Geoff Lawton’s work on his KZbin channel, in dry lands especially his new greening the desert site. I doubt your as dry as that but the strategies he used to turn barren rock of 10 acres into an oasis in the desert is awe inspiring.

[@robinz2000]

@@StefanSobkowiak Thank you very much! I will look him up..

[@marconunes864]

Great info Stefan. Thanks from Algarve-Portugal Cheers

[@wudangmtn]

Great videos, thank you.

[@Itscarlosocando]

Nature is the most advanced technology in the planet, so much logic and purpose

[@timothylongmore7325]

I did some work for a gentleman who planted black locust along side his asparagus patches. This idea is great because the locust can be harvested and coppiced, thinned for forage and regrown. The young shoots are covered with thorns and could be woven into barriers or left thick to be a living privacy hedge/barrier.

[@vaisnava]

This video resonates with me on so many levels. I love what you’re doing and you have helped me clarify some things I need to do a maintain. ❤️ Thank you

[@StefanSobkowiak]

You are so welcome

[@MissBabalu102]

So cute. You make me smile. Thanks

[@ashleylaw]

I have Alders ! Now going to encourage more.

[@urbanhomesteadingpdx]

Thanks for the great options for nitrogen fixating trees

[@SAROXBAND]

This is so fantastic! Thank you so much! We have 2.5 acres in tropical Puerto Rico and really appreciate your page! Will be fun to place a Moringa as a nitrogen fixer next to our fruit trees and perhaps add an almond tree to follow your combo formula 😃

[@BrianBerriosOne]

Im certain you will find a wild legume specie growing on your property. Look for pods then check the roots for nodules.

[@SAROXBAND]

@@BrianBerriosOne thank you!! We have searched over the years and not a single legume! We have tried pigeon peas but this year is the first we’re going to do it using permaculture principles. You actually are on to something… I am going to speak to the family to get more legumes going here! Many blessings to you!

[@ryanrich9186]

Just found you.... i absolutely love your antics

[@saraho8540]

My favorite part after watching a couple of your nitrogen fixing videos is the random excited exclamations of "goumi!!" Hahaha

[@metalarbort1054]

Kentucky Coffee tree is one of my favorite trees to recommend for long term planting. Definitely ugly ducklings with awkward teenage years. Give them 20 or 30 years and they are majestic. Also extremely resilient to pest and disease.

[@andreajohnsMyPotteryBliss]

Black locust blooms have the best fragrance. I speak from experience that black locust thorns can penetrate tires. Another nitrogen fixer with a delicious smelling bloom is Russian Olive. When they’re blooming I just stand in the yard and inhale the beautiful fragrance. It is like no other. In parts of our state they are almost a noxious weed. I’ve noticed where they’re a pest they indicate there’s water near the surface. They grow best in our desertish areas but only near water.

[@johnlee7085]

Russian Olive trees are considered invasive.

[@calvindejong6060]

This is great information 🙏 thank you

[@darrinforce205]

Thanks for the great video. I live in Northern CA, so alders are out, but I wonder if other birch family trees (such as hornbeams, hazels) would work in the same way as you describe. Thanks!

[@gogogardener]

You inspired me to order two Anne Raspberry. I have a spot I've had trouble growing things. A decade ago I put too much peat moss in desert soil (DG). Something tells me it'll grow there between a pomegranate and fig tree. I like the yellow berries because the birds don't think they're ripe, and I usually get to eat them. I read that this variety doesn't sucker alot, which is better in my small garden. I tried them years ago, and they lasted three years. Hoping they establish this time and like the spot I've chosen for them.

[@marysylvie2012]

The Alder tree is the only one I recommend. Really good for nitrogen fixing in the soil.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I love it too but grow whatever grows really well, if its alder on your site then yes grow alder.

[@thumbsup9639]

You are a blessing. :)

[@bloodngutsrn5553]

You are such a great teacher

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Thanks

[@ashleysovilla2037]

Thank you 🌱

[@johnlord8337]

Seaberry or sea buckthorn are also nitrogen fixers - and massive nutrient berry producers as a hedge or windbreak.

[@RaveBabyFuu]

We're movin' on uuup ~♪ To the east siiide ♪ to a delux apartment in the Skyyyy~ ♫

[@StefanSobkowiak]

You got it. I was wondering what tune it was from. Thanks.

[@deh773]

@@StefanSobkowiak the TV show the Jeffersons theme song.

[@TheSuburbanGardener]

My homestead had both thorned and thornless honey locust when we bought it. At first I believed them to all be thorned and started cutting them down (save 1 large thornless honey locust) as they caused injury to me as I worked. When they resprouted I noticed that most of them were indeed thornless and I was curious why??? After doing some research, I learned how useful this tree can be. A few years later now, I have made stakes for copper antennas, fence posts, and trellis too. I have transplanted them all over my 2.2 acres and hope to propagate more. If you want to kill a thorned black locust tree, cut it down during summer leaving 2 feet stump. Drill large holes in the top and fill with epsom salt. Cover the holes with candle wax and done. The epsom salt will suck all the moisture from the tree, thus killing it. I love your videos Stephan. Have a great day!

[@carolleenkelmann3829]

Re blooms from the black Locust ; I grew very late flowering ( not intentionally) sweet peas which keep disappearing.....down the mouth of the local squirrels. Their perfume was also intoxicating.

[@user-wl6ge9gu9v]

Growing really well… like narrow leaf cottonwood!

[@13c11a]

Because you are so well-informed in the details of planting and growing wonderful trees and you speak so well, I'll hazard a guess that you like fine points of English usage. You may be interested to know that items that can be counted are not referred to as "amounts," but by the word "number." So, one would refer to the number of nodules, not the amount of nodules. If something can be counted, like eggs or cars, use the word "number." If something can't be counted, use "amount." "Number" refers to how many; "Amount" refers to how much. There are good articles online about the difference between the two words. I hope I have piqued your curiosity. I enjoy your channel very much. I enjoy a fair amount of time on it! Thanks.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Thanks, for ten years of university my written and grammar still leave a lot to be desired. Thank goodness for spell check.

[@NielsPoulsen]

Fun thing about norway Maple… They don’t really grow in Norway. I am in Denmark a bit south from Norway. They grow vigorously here. Seems like every seed sprouts😉 But we are on the northern border of the species, some people believe it was introduced in start 1800s. It grows back when cut, often it grows a meter or two in a year. A great tree to coppice for firewood if it shades a more valuable tree

[@MrHarpette]

Black locust AKA false acacia gives great wood: imputrescible, you can make posts that won't rot; as firewood, can be burned early, does not require as long a drying time as other woods, and is not too difficult to split; is pretty good for tool handles too. In France we eat the flowers (16:01) in fritters (beignets). We refer to it as acacia but its real name is «robinier».

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Merci Jérôme, bon à savoir pour le séchage, je ne savais pas.

[@MrHarpette]

@@StefanSobkowiak il brûle bien que "frais" mais ça encrasse peut-être la cheminée, à voir.

[@timothylongmore7325]

I've been singing the praises of robinia pseudo acacia for years. We were required to use it in place of pressure treated wood for all "wet" applications. Sills, post bottoms etc. My problem as a builder was where to get it. Being a hands on carpenter I found trees and cut my own. Beautifull hard wood. As you mentioned straight grained pieces split easily and are prefered wood for pegs in timberframing. In my area locust is easier to find than white oak , the number choice ( around here). The barn grant program ended some 15 years ago but my love of and use of locust has only increased. Every once in a while you'll find some for sale but I'm the only guy that has it on a regular basis. I use every piece down to thumb size sticks. If I had a chipper I'd use them too! I make dimesional lumber, sawn posts , un-sawn posts and poles from 6' to 16' and 20'. We cut thousands of hop poles during the 2012 depression and thousands of "buffalo poles" , Many that ended up at "Buffalo Joes" bison farm in Chittenango Falls NY. I started a grove at my home from root cuttings in the fall of 2012 that are now large enough for split-rails and are root propagating like crazy.

[@drewblack749]

I feel so stupid! Our streets in Lincoln, Ne were lined with those nasty locust trees! I hated the mess from them. Supposedly, the first settlers found only 1 tree growing in the entire area. Now I understand that city fathers must have known about the value of the locust tree. To this day, they thrive largely on the old city streets. They must have imparted much nitrogen in the last decades-the city streets are lined with lush lawns and greenery. Thanks, Stephan! I no longer despise them now that I know their value!!(still hate the buckets of bean pods we swept up!!:)

[@drewblack749]

Spelled your name wrong again, Stefan. I apologize. Mea culpa.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Glad you can see it for what it is.

[@lasvegasfruittrees4265]

Good video 📸

[@velma3797]

You are so nice. Love you ❤

[@wanjuchien4208]

Green back bee, I think I saw a few of them before and wonder why the "Fly" behave like Bee? Living post is the great idea, one that I use as well. Hate hate treated lumbers.

[@OndrejPrymek]

I wouldnt say Honey Locust doesn produce fruit. It's pods are really like tree beans. Nice video. Thank you

[@Ann_Palmer]

Thankful I found this video New subscriber been watching and you always talk about black locus - i have now seen it in my part of Louisiana But the honey locus grows like “weeds”

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Imagine if those weeds were all thornless.

[@samyoungblood3740]

I’m confused by the statement in the beginning. Did this lovely man we’re learning from pass away? This is the sweetest teacher I’ve ever learned from without ever meeting.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

No I was just answering a comment. That’s the comment on the thumbnail. I’m still here and God willing will be here for generations to come.

[@Stezosledec559]

I have all nitrogen fixers you mentioned. My soil is so poor that even black locust- thorny one is struggling. So I planted native laburnum alpinum, it grows better . Huge tickets are found on latitude 1400 m above sea level here in Alps. Maybe is it interesting for you. Also is very poisonous, but not for rabbits 😀.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Fantastic, whatever grows well, grow it.

[@tallcedars2310]

There must be a fine nitrogen balance that has to be reached to have a healthy organic orchard. Watching this video I recall the story about one fruit tree being attacked by aphids while trees around it were not. That was due to too much nitrogen that had attracked the aphids. This video is great since it explains how to organically balance nitrogen without man's input, remember that video;)

[@caseG80]

Heard a similar story where a husband would pee on around a lemon tree everyday sometimes two times going and coming home from work the wife couldn’t figure out for yrs why that one lemon tree had aphids yr after yr. this the story your referring to?

[@tallcedars2310]

@@caseG80 That's the one:) Believe it was Stephan who deuced it was too much nitrogen. A true tree detective story really gets around!

[@WholesomeFamilyFarms]

Really enjoying your videos. I’m learning a lot! I love the regenerative approach. I’m more of a livestock guy myself but have always been fascinated about a regenerative orchard. I recently lost my 2 year old daughter and people donated fruit trees to us and ended up getting 55 trees to remember her by. I’ve never managed an orchard but I wanna do a great job with it before I get these trees and plant them. I’m wondering where can I get some nitrogen fixing trees to put between these fruit trees? I’m in SE Minnesota. Thank you so much for what you’re doing!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Sorry to hear. She will look upon your new orchard in her memory. Ask your forest service or soil conservation agency. Try thornless seaberry (male and female), alder and buffalo berry, they should work well in your climate. Blessings.

[@DavidSimsStocks]

Hi Stefan! I am a big fan of your channel. I helped my dad transplant some blueberry suckers from the woods on one side of his house to his garden on the other side. In the garden, the soil is poor and other blueberries have not been doing well. The plant that is doing well, fruiting and suckering is in a shadier area of the yard mulched with leaves next to a dogwood tree. QUESTION: Is dogwood considered a nitrogen fixer? He said he pruned it recently and the blueberries then produced fruit.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Two things come to mind: not enough moisture in the poor garden soil and transplant shock dilue to loss of roots. Add lots of mulch around each add some steel under the mulch (they need iron) and give them time to recover. Some extra water at least the first two years would help. No dogwood are not nitrogen fixers but as frequent pioneers they are generally soil improvers.

[@franzwaltenspuhl8892]

Alder trees grow tall & wild along streams in my part of N. California. Unfortunately I don’t live on a stream, sigh. We do have western redbud on our property.

[@matthewtaylor2185]

We are growing KY Coffee trees on our Kentucky homestead! Some grow fast and some just don't do much.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I suspect there is a mycorrhizae association that is lacking for those that grow slow. They are not seen in our area so no inoculant naturally in the soil. Would be interesting to try a shovelful of soil from those growing well placed at the base of those not growing well to transfer the inoculum.

[@matthewtaylor2185]

@@StefanSobkowiak I'm sure you're right. My dad has had great luck in his heavy clay. His are big now and he gets them coming up around his and neighboring properties. We have fertile soil and three years in, my biggest tree is two feet tall. To be fair, the tops kept getting frozen out this year, and some are in the shadows of big maple trees(they were planted to replace the aging maples)

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Frost will slow these trees back every year until they can escape spring ground frost. That’s why they are so late to leaf out, very sensitive to frost.

[@fireupyourheartfortruth]

Thank You :)

[@fireupyourheartfortruth]

Im trying for suburbia, mini, mini, mini garden. lol:)

[@TheBarefootedGardener]

Great video Stefan! What should be done for tick control?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I don’t know maybe encourage more predators. Some areas are just tick habitat.

[@ludwigvonrothbard1207]

Guinea fowl will eat tons of ticks.

[@gfutube1]

Stephan Super interesting as usual. As with many parts of Canada this year Nova Scotia experienced some devastating forest fires. The largest was in the south around Shelburne. I am told the burnt areas were mostly scrub spruce. Is there an opportunity to reforest with higher quality trees like oak etc.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Always an opportunity. Maybe walnuts and hazelnuts as well. Why not add or allow an understory of blueberries.

[@deborahcampbell9602]

OMG 😢I've been learning from this man for years I didn't know he passed away till just now! 4/2024😢 I hope they planted a tree in his honor or at least name an apple after him what a true naturalist

[@rickmartin2214]

I just found out myself when I was trying to see if he had any cuttings. He's provided me with years of knowledge and in my zone and region! Thanks Stefan! May you rest with the plants!

[@justgivemethetruth]

What? I saw a frame of video that seemed to say someone has passed away, but could not find it - though I imagined it. This Stefan Sobkowiak this video guy die? That's terrible. I really enjoyed these videos and got a lot out of them.

[@gogogardener]

Im thinking we need a honey locust tree to pollard in an area we plan to have birds in a few years. Thanks for the info.

[@crfogal67]

Thorns that are big enough can be used as old fashioned fish hooks.

[@johnlord8337]

Alders ? !!! Alders grow like invasives in the PNW forests - and that makes the understanding of how the pines/firs/hemlocks grow so well. Plant alders (and their catkins) in a fruit orchard semi-shading the ground, and providing a semi-wind break for the trees, and home for tweety nests and bug eaters, and you have a win-win.

[@rosenlid]

Alnus glutinosa is a great tree. I urge to try if you have a place that is not too dry. River, creek or lake sides are the best places but other not too dry areas will do. It will grow tall single trunk trees in the forest and oak like in more open place.There is even a form of oak like leaves. Greatly improves the soil because of nitrogen fixing and the dropping of green leaves in the fall.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Yup, alder are probably the best soil improver in our climate. Will have to test here.

[@djmoulton1558]

I asked the Govt of Ontario about Kentucky coffee trees. They agreed with you that these are not very good nitrogenators, but suggested instead using soapberries (Shepherdia canadensis) as native nitrogenators between other trees. Have you tried soapberry bushes?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Never tried canadensis just argentea.

[@Ashishsinhaofficial]

Thank you for putting this up. Watching from Kathmandu Nepal. What is your distance between fruit tree and the honey locust? thanks.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

8 feet or 2.5m but should be much more.

[@msmarygardner]

Stefan...could you tell me if the honey locust tree speads wildly or if you plant one tree you will get 1 tree that grows fast. I don’t want a tree that will spread aggressively. Looking for some shade for a vegetable garden soon to be started & would love to garden under it. I will have too much sun for my Florida garden. As long as I get the male tree, do you thing it would be good & could mow under it to keep the pups down & easy maintenance? Northern Florida is quite hot in the summer. LOVE your vids...we learn so much!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Get a thornless one and it could spread by seed but if you mow you’ll keep them down. Be careful not to damage the root digging or it will sucker.

[@msmarygardner]

@@StefanSobkowiak 🤔 playing dumb...you mean if I dig & hit a root, a shoot could start come up?

[@absolutorice754]

At my house there are Black locus we cut them every year at the level of the earth but they grow and 3 meters I plan to plant a hectare i.e. 2.5 acres but I have to grow I'm only 14 years old.

[@AlleyCat-1]

We have honey locust tree's, I hate them & like them. Hate them because ours has thorns, not an issue when they're adults, but painful when they are small & the other reason is their roots spread out for long distances. You might be able to make the runner roots into a basket. The seeds go everywhere. But my goat's love these tree's 🤣

[@bibliothek_von_babylonbvba659]

Gleditzia triacantos 'Millwood' is a spineless high yield cultivar i like to get mi hands on

[@joshuagreenslade8942]

Hi there. I’m enjoying your videos. I have alder shrubs growing around my property. Should I use them with trios as I’m planting fruit trees, or do I need to find something like a black locust or something in the legume family? I’m working on a permaculture food forest in northeast Washington state. I’d also like to do something like a blueberry you-pick farm someday if I can get better at propagating blueberries. Thanks for your videos. God bless.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Joshua if alder are already growing absolutely use them, they are fantastic soil improvers. Just check the drainage with a few holes, fruit need good drainage and some alders prefer wet sites.

[@joshuagreenslade8942]

Stefan Sobkowiak - The Permaculture Orchard thanks so much. I’m going to do these triads this year. Mulberry- alder- plum; pear- Siberian pea shrub- Asian pear. Also I’m going to mix in some buffalo berry in between some other stuff to help with fertility. I appreciate learning more about God’s amazing creation.

[@heidiroycroft9465]

Have you ever looked into Red Alder as a nitrogen fixer for an orchard? It grows well in my zone 8a western Washington area and was wondering if it would be a good alternative to one of the stickery nitrogen fixers.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Yes alders are some of the best soil improvers.

[@honeycaffena4897]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!! Wondering about “Red Bud” trees, they form small pea pods? Also, why no more ducks?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

No ducks mainly due to processing difficulty. Easy to raise, not so easy to nicely prepare for the table. Redbud is also a nitrogen fixer.

[@honeycaffena4897]

Stefan Sobkowiak thank you!

[@danielkirby1378]

@@StefanSobkowiak I have 20 acres pasture land surrounded by water in area 8 north east louisiana. I'm inspired and want to do a permaculture orchard! Red bud does well here glad to here it is a nitrogen fixer. For fruit I'm thinking pear cherry, plum, and maybe maybe some Satsuma. I'm thinking blue berry and dew and blue berry's for shrub and onion garlic and such for perennial. Any suggestions would be great

[@erikjohnson9223]

Redbud is a caesalpinoid (primitive) legume. Like honeylocust, they don't nodulate, but perhaps they use a different method. However nitrogen fixation is dependent on low oxygen conditions (nodules have leghemoglobin to tie up the oxygen so the bacteria can get to work). The flowers are definitely edible, usually eaten raw or pickled. I believe that the younger seeds may also be, if cooked.

[@erikjohnson9223]

@@danielkirby1378 On dry/mesic areas, Asian persimmons, kumquats, and muscadine grapes will be well adapted. Mayhaws (native hawthorns that produce a crabapple like jelly, many cultivars nowadays) will tolerate even swamps (but do get cedar apple rust, so eliminate redcedar and other junipers). Jelly palm (Butia capitata) is also nice (dry/mesic) and pineapple guava and the earliest ripening loquats (e.g "Christmas;" the plants are hardier (15F) than the fruit (25F), so it is ideal to ripen before the January frosts) are great edible ornamentals, but as with most Deep South adapted plants, crops will be easier to grow than market/sell. Try value added products (preserves, dried persimmons) and informational marketing I guess. (I think jelly palm would make a great sweet and sour sauce.) You don't have that European climate that is responsible for most crops familiar in our culture. Figs will need nematode protection but LSU Purple is supposed to be fairly resistant. You could graft other varieties onto its roots, but only use closed-eye varieties that don't need fig wasps (you are in a humid area--open figs sour, and you don't have the wasp). Pecans are a long term option (if you have clay subsoil?), but are native so you probably have pest pressure. Pecan orchards often graze cattle on pasture under the trees when the nuts aren't falling. Unlike my other suggestions, they are known to all, so selling is easy. Yuzu (Citrus junos), if you can get it, is a great substitute for citron in marmalades and "teas.". Koreans and Japanese love it. Yaupon holly leaves make a great, caffeinated tea, and is probably growing wild everywhere, but you'd have to create the market in which to sell it. (I grew up in the FL panhandle.) Lots of native herbaceous nitrogen fixers, especially vines (Centrosema is pretty). (Non native) cowpeas (including yardlong beans) are probably the most productive of human food and nitrogen. Woody nitrogen fixers include oleasters (the evergreen ones and guomi will tolerate your lack of winter chill), wax myrtle, the invasive mimosa (Albizia julibrissin), and possibly Amorpha fruticosa (which occurs further north). Perennial Mexican sunflower (a Tithonia with yellow flowers, forgot the species name) is a good chop-&-drop biomass accumulator.

[@d.w.stratton4078]

If you do black locust it coppices super well, is rot resistant, grows nice and straight under coppice, and is good dense wood. Why not put it on coppice rotation in your orchard?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Good idea

[@KathySarich]

I’m thinking I may have thornless honey locust in my backyard, same leaves… 🤔 I’m going to have to check it out more, there’s a reason for everything that’s been planted in my yard, was an old farm couple that built and lived where I’m at, up until I bought it from them 15 years ago.

[@jakeingle54]

18:07 has me screaming because locust thorns have been used as blowgun ammunition for forever and an eternity

[@carmenortiz5294]

I hate honey locus, my neighbor had one and then I had dozens. The seeds came by the hundreds, and getting rid of them is not easy. Obviously, I still have some, lucky for me he cut the mother of all trees down. I have other nitrogen fixing trees, brought to me by birds. They know what they are doing. I have a 1/3 acre wildlife habitat which used to be another yard of lawn until I moved here, started removing all that useless lawn by hand, took 15 years to where I feel happy. (Not some neighbors but the city gave me permission December 2005, during a snow storm.) Next, how to restore a small creek that was here until City Hall decided to get rid of it decades ago.

[@sherriianiro747]

Same situation here! Kudos to you for your efforts to rebuild the ecosystem! One yard at a time and it does catch on!

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

I am trying to get Siberian Pea shrub from seed. Got one growing this year and will try again to get some going to plant in the spring. Do you have opinions/knowledge about those? I definitely don't have to go looking for alder. I purchased a chipper to take care of the many branches I have. Now I am looking at that "weed" in a different light. A never ending source of cut and come again wood chips!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Alder is top as nitrogen fixer. Pea shrub is ok it’s fairly compact.

[@MrCard031584]

Can this be done in the las vegas area desert. We are in nye county outside of clark county, nevada. We are on 46 acres. Looking to improve desert rocky sand. Best drought "crop" prickley pear cactus, some sort of clover, maybe alf alfa hey? Just trying to get something started before we try a desert food forest.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

It can with species better adapted to your conditions. Adding water harvesting earthworks would give amazing results. Check out Brad Lancaster and Geoff Lawton’s channels, they discuss dry land and water harvesting extensively.

[@gardengatesopen]

That typed message that shows up at the beginning - where can that be found? There wasn't enough time to read it. I only caught a few words, but would like to read the whole thing.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

It’s in the video where you can pause and read the question and replies.

[@Deeceesadventures]

Bt mixed with spineoside works well but not sure how safe it really is. BT doesn’t seem to bad and it kills most caterpillars by itself. We have bad brown tail moths. Works good for them.

[@johnscarboroughregenerativ7240]

Are they the thorned kind?

[@danripley41]

Have you made a video which addresses black knot? I've tried liquid copper and cutting away the infected parts to no avail. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I did last winter about removing the knots. I suspect the trees are lacking some micronutrients, that is my next focus to make sure the trees are so well nourished they resist the disease.

[@RustyBobbins]

Ok wait… who’s Goomie?! Inquiring minds want to know, you sounded so excited lol.

[@goodtimberfarm]

Trees such as honey locust or black locust can get massive. Do you prune the trees to keep them a similar size to the fruit trees?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Yes