Ezra Byrne

J - From planting a seedling/sapling 5 years is definitely underestimating. I am managing my stands for 3-4" diameter stems and in my area that seems to be accomplished at around 9-12 years from seedling/sapling stage. From what I've seen with my stands, 5 years as a coppice rotation is very realistic after the first cut if you are also just looking for 3-4" rounds and smaller. I would not assume any stems will be larger than 4" diameter at stool level at a 5 year cutting interval.

As far as updating the project goes I have just not been in a blogging mindset for quite some time. I'm keeping the site up and may get back to it at some point in the future, but I won't make any promises as to when. The coppicing is still ongoing every year, and is continuing to prove that Black Locust is indeed a wonderful coppice species. I am up to 5 separate small areas so I'm planning to just focus on one area each year to make it easy enough to manage the rotation. Deer continue to destroy stems each year due to rubbing, gnawing, and just bulldozing through them, but as the standards that I left are now quite large (8" diameter and 24'+ height) there are now thickets of seedlings coming up in a larger radius each year and I'm confident each area will continue to grow in size and number regardless of the deer damage. This reinforces the warning that if you are not within its native range caution is advised - it WILL spread if management does not keep up with it.

There will be more updates to come, I have just been having a rough go for the past couple months and wasn't able to coppice as much as I wanted to this year, as well as haven't really felt up to making blog posts just yet. Thankfully due to the nature of trees all those stems will just be a little bigger next year so I haven't lost anything in the wait.

Bob - The four you listed are also planted here, the locusts are by far the first to come to coppicing size (we do have some native mulberries here that I wouldn't dare coppice because they have the sweetest berries). I don't have enough of the others for much except small crafts, the focus was on the locusts to reforest and provide bulk fuel. It's good to hear someone else had the same thoughts in planning!

Gray - For overhead pruning of larger branches it's generally recommended to do a 3 cut drop. One small (less than 1/3 diameter) undercut about 4-6" away from the final desired cut, then cut the limb off by cutting through about 1-2" further from the trunk than the undercut, then a cleaning cut as close as you can comfortably get to the branch collar without damaging it. This way when you drop the branch it drops straight down rather than hinging and swinging, and the cleaning cut has almost no weight on it so it can come off cleanly without ripping bark.

Jay -  Although I know fuel is the lowest end use of wood by quite a few measures - profitability, lifespan, usability, usefulness, etc. - it is the highest on the survival priority list. Before I can think about using coppice for higher uses I have to take care of my basic human needs first, hence this project. I've been at this self-sufficiency journey for almost 20 years now and I'm still so early in the process it might be disheartening if I wasn't so bent on continuing the path. I will enjoy the time when the woodshed is full and I still have poles left over, but that time isn't coming any time soon. Thanks for everything you do here and thanks for your input on my work! Truly appreciated.

Just Dwarf Irises and Dwarf Daffodils up right now, at least there is a little color in the garden!

GMO seed is stocked and sold at farm supply stores / elevators, but it requires a signed contract stating your understanding that it is intellectual property and you cannot save seed for planting, breeding, etc. You will not find GMO varieties in seed packets sold to gardeners as far as I know, if for no other reason than it would be too hard to maintain intellectual property ownership. Also they wouldn't bother doing the immense amount of R+D necessary unless it's for a huge commodity product. I doubt GMO garden veggies even exist, but I'm not read up on that.

Black Locust Coppicing, Part 7

I bucked the few stems that I coppiced last year and laid on the ground all year. Fungus occurred within a year on the smaller twigs! I think the brush could be used for hugels based on this result.

A very tough question. Although I would miss variety and having house pets and guard animals, I would have to say if I couldn't have a steady stream of eggs my body would fall into disrepair rather quickly. Fresh eggs are one of my foundational keystones of homesteading to begin with, and without them I'm not sure I want to do any of it anymore. I can do without meat and dairy, but don't take away my 3 egg omelet!

I've been mulling over this for years, and the best solution I can think of is a programmable induction burner and any compatible kettle that you like. They are cheaper now than they used to be, still much more expensive than an electric kettle, but no plastic touching the water and the burner can be used for cooking with cast iron as well.

Silas Marner wrote:All I knew was there were a lot of things wrong with how I was expected to live and I couldn't pretend not to see them.

This resonated with how I have felt about the world since I was a child. Thank you for boiling it down into a clear and concise sentence. Hit me right in the face. I waffle between wondering whether everyone pretends not to see the problems or they just don't see them - whether it's a choice or just plain ignorance - and I don't think I'll ever truly come to a conclusion on that one. The answer doesn't really matter though because eventually everyone has to deal with the consequences of meandering away from the cycles of nature, I'd rather just stay on the mean rather than deal with the rubber-band shock when we are forced to revert to it.

Although it may sound a bit sacrilegious, I would advise you to forget about that book. There is so much free information available to keep you educated, entertained, and interested that I just don't see the need to buy a book that may put you into hardship. The public library will have many permaculture books you can borrow for free, and depending on which library system you are near they may have podcasts, audiobooks, e-books etc. There is this site which is already almost endless on its own, and yet there is a whole internet ecosystem outside of it to browse as well. Keep the book in the mental wish list and some day if you come across it when you are in a better position you might want to buy it for yourself, or you may find you no longer care to. I don't think myself or anyone else is going to tell you anything you don't already know on this one - but we can at least assure you that you aren't alone in going through hard times. My first step toward permaculture was due to hardship and a desire for true sustainability of sustenance, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one that found it in that way.

This forum is probably the most constructive place to talk about these things, as the answers you get will likely be from experience rather than theory.

The comparison of using a lab vs using a kitchen may seem valid on the surface, but the end results are very different. Spending a day preparing and cooking a stew ends in having a nutritionally complete, satiating, satisfying, calming, psychologically and biologically beneficial meal. Spending a day preparing and breaking down cellulose ends in having a pile of sugar.