2011 Locust Crop

I tried to take a picture of the black locust trees I sprouted last year; I found buds on them this morning! I failed to capture the new growth because our camera doesn't offer the greatest close-ups. I was fairly certain that the trees didn't survive the winter because I kept them in pots which likely froze. Stephanie and I found a black locust stand on Head Lake Road, so we've been collecting seeds on our morning walks, hoping to get around 100 that we'd start this year.

I ended up planting around 300 tree seeds from black and honey locust that I'd been collecting since last year and a good number of them have come up (see picture). Once they get large enough, we'll replant them in the green house until it's time to put them in the ground. I don't have a spot for them yet since I'll need to clear the location with our land lady. Eventually, the black locust will form a fuelwood hedge from which we'll harvest dense, high-BTU hardwood.