Legume/pea/bean tree, zones 8a - 10b

Hi everyone

I'm just wondering are there any legume trees that produce edible pods and are frost hardy.

I have been planting land that is grazed by sheep and I am wondering can I add trees that will produce food for the sheep. I have different varieties of apples which they like to eat but  are there any trees that would produce an edible seed pod?

Or are there any other frost hardy fruit trees that I could buy and grow from seed.

I’m in 8A and Honey Locust trees grow like weeds.

Siberian Pea Shrub

https://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-plant-descriptions/siberian-pea-shrub

Depending on where you are, carob and mesquite might be possibilities.  Both like dry climates, and might not thrive in rainy humid areas.

Wayne Mackenzie wrote:I’m in 8A and Honey Locust trees grow like weeds.

Was reading up about these, the thorns can burst tyres of tractors... Don't think the poor quad would like these buggers

Some don’t have many thorns, but still produce pods.
https://www.rollingrivernursery.com/products/744/65/natives-tree-seedlings/tree-seedlings/thornless-honey-locust-gleditsia-triacanthos-inermis-detail

Cris Bessette wrote:Siberian Pea Shrub

https://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-plant-descriptions/siberian-pea-shrub

This site says they're hardy in zones 2-7. Would they survive in Z8?
I've never seen them for sale, and haven't noticed any growing, so I wonder if it would be difficult to find seeds online. Hmm.

I would definitely like to buy some Siberian pea seeds if they can be found online, would be interesting.

We have siberian pea shrub here in 7b as a garden ornamental, they flower like anything, and I saw them set a lot of pods, but then all the pods vanished without my noticing, so I think you have to really be on top of harvesting before the wildlife does it for you! I have seen that there is one self seeded one right up against the house. Will have to move that some time this winter.

Kc Simmons wrote:

Cris Bessette wrote:Siberian Pea Shrub

https://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-plant-descriptions/siberian-pea-shrub

This site says they're hardy in zones 2-7. Would they survive in Z8?
I've never seen them for sale, and haven't noticed any growing, so I wonder if it would be difficult to find seeds online. Hmm.

I've bought seeds for these a few times online. I've started them out in pots but they seem to be growing very slow. They also go dormant in the winter even indoors.
I'm hoping I can put them out in the ground in the next year or so.

Mimosa/Silk Tree (Albizia) is a good source of animal fodder in my area. When I had a goat, I could tether him to the smaller trees and he'd eat anything in his reach. Now, I've observed the pigs eating any dropped foliage and seed pods that blow into their paddock. While it has a reputation for being invasive, I've found that very few of the seedlings that come up every year actually live long enough to get big & reproduce. Many are eaten by wildlife or farm animals, and most of the ones that come up in the understory of the wooded fence line, either, get shaded out, buried by leaf litter, or can't compete with the big trees for water. Additionally, if the majority of the pods are fed to livestock, I suspect it would be very unlikely to become an invasive issue.
They can also be coppiced to encourage more density in branches/foliage; and healthy specimens can be cut down multiple times a year (as my dad learned some years ago when he tried to cut down one growing too close to their house).
They prefer full sun & do well with very little water. They don't have a dense canopy, but can provide some dappled shade. Pollinators (especially hummingbirds) seem to like the blooms; and propagation via seed is easy enough to use them as sacrificial trees when needed. Typically they're short lived (25ish years), but coppiced/pollarded trees tend to live longer, and seedlings grow quickly enough to replace the parent tree when it finally dies.
Around here, most people call them "trash trees," but they're one of my favorite trees to have (which is why I named my farm "Mimosa Grove").

Kc Simmons wrote:Mimosa/Silk Tree (Albizia) is a good source of animal fodder in my area. When I had a goat, I could tether him to the smaller trees and he'd eat anything in his reach. Now, I've observed the pigs eating any dropped foliage and seed pods that blow into their paddock. While it has a reputation for being invasive, I've found that very few of the seedlings that come up every year actually live long enough to get big & reproduce. Many are eaten by wildlife or farm animals, and most of the ones that come up in the understory of the wooded fence line, either, get shaded out, buried by leaf litter, or can't compete with the big trees for water. Additionally, if the majority of the pods are fed to livestock, I suspect it would be very unlikely to become an invasive issue.
They can also be coppiced to encourage more density in branches/foliage; and healthy specimens can be cut down multiple times a year (as my dad learned some years ago when he tried to cut down one growing too close to their house).
They prefer full sun & do well with very little water. They don't have a dense canopy, but can provide some dappled shade. Pollinators (especially hummingbirds) seem to like the blooms; and propagation via seed is easy enough to use them as sacrificial trees when needed. Typically they're short lived (25ish years), but coppiced/pollarded trees tend to live longer, and seedlings grow quickly enough to replace the parent tree when it finally dies.
Around here, most people call them "trash trees," but they're one of my favorite trees to have (which is why I named my farm "Mimosa Grove").

This is how i protect my ,,trash tree ,,  ,albizzia.
Bigger mimosa trees here sell for 200-1000 dollars (equivalent in romanian monney) and there have been cases where people planted these trees in their neighbourhood in cityes and the trees were stolen the next day.
When it blooms its breath taking beautifull and grows really fast.5 years and is bigger than your house.