We take a moment before each post to acknowledge that the land we learn from, responsibly take from, and generously give back to, is the traditional and contemporary homeland of the Anishinaabe peoples, specifically the Council of Three Fires (the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations), among others.
We pay respect to their ancient stewardship, ecological wisdom, and continued presence here in the Great Lakes region, committing ourselves to learning and practicing the ethics of stewardship and harvesting that they pioneered.
Land is not property, land is a relation.
Sometimes we get things wrong, like introducing an invasive species on purpose.
Yeah, we did that.
Enter the autumn olive plant (Elaeagnus umbellata).
We had our reasons: soil improvement and agroforestry, structure and land use, wildlife habitat.
And guess what? It did all of those things.
And then it got suuuuuper out of control.
It threatens biodiversity and ecological structure by shrub encroachment, forming dense thickets that make it difficult to traverse through.
It’s harmful to low-nutrient adapted communities by fixing (increasing) nitrogen in the soil (great for communities that require high-nutrients to thrive, but terrible for the others that don’t).
It threatens a number of our natural communities through aggressive reproduction, its ability to chemically alter the soil, and its capacity to outcompete native vegetation (which we fight hard to keep healthy and abundant).
Bad. Stuff.
But hey.. what if I told you that you could eat the berries it produces (incredibly nutritious)?
And what if I told you that you could turn the wood into a great source of fuel (firewood)?
And what if I told you that by consuming high nutrient berries and sourcing high quality firewood, you’d be helping many critical natural communities in Michigan?
A win, win, win.
You see, there are SO MANY different plants that you could forage, but only a select number of them where foraging with the intent of eradicating is encouraged.
Now I’m not saying that foraging alone is going to solve this issue. It’s not.
Even if we harvested all of the autumn olive’s seed-bearing fruit from an area, we would still have the plants to contend with.
And even if we harvested all the wood from the plants, cutting down the shrub will only stimulate vigorous resprouting from the root crown.
Here’s the bottom line.
Autumn olive is more difficult to control than many other species of invasive shrubs, and is near impossible to eradicate completely from an area once it has become thoroughly established.
And such is the necessity for herbicide (I know.. big and scary, but we’ll get to that).
The Beginning of the Autumn Olive in Michigan
The autumn olive, native to Asia, was introduced to America in the 1830s.
Throughout the 40s and the 70s, it was extensively planted for wildlife habitat and food, and for use as a land stabilizer and windbreaker.
We didn’t observe its invasive traits until it was too late.
Like 2012 too late.
At that time, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources formally recognized and listed autumn olive as a restricted, invasive species.
Both “prohibited” and “restricted” are legal designations for invasive species in Michigan.
A prohibited species is not widely distributed in the state, and management or control techniques are often not available.
A restricted species (like the autumn olive) is established in the state, and management practices are usually available for them.
Either way, it is illegal to possess, introduce, import, sell, or offer these as a live organism, unless under certain circumstances.
It’s very controlled.
Killing Autumn Olive
We’ve covered how it’s more difficult to reign in than many other shrubs.
And this is why management of it is so intensive.
We’ve also talked briefly about how herbicides are necessary in its management.
But even herbicides aren’t enough.
Mandatory monitoring is needed as they may still resprout.
Follow-up treatment is needed as well to ensure depletion of the seeds in the seed bank, which is a natural reserve of viable, non-germinated seeds in the canopy above or the soil below.
How long a seed is viable in the ground varies quite a bit, ranging anywhere from germinating immediately after reaching soil, to several hundred years.
Or in one fascinating case, the Judean date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), which successfully sprouted after being stored for 2,000 years!
I mean there’s also the Silene stenophylla being brought back after 32,000 years, but that was by plant tissue and not by seed (still very, very incredible).
When it comes to the autumn olive seed and how long it can remain viable in the soil seed bank, it’s approximately three years.
That does depend on things like moisture, temperature, and soil conditions.
A single mature autumn olive tree can begin to bear fruit at 3 to 5 years and can produce 2-8 lbs. of seed per year.
That’s one plant.
This is ridiculous! Just light it on fire!
Attempting to kill an established autumn olive simply by burning it is like trimming a multi-headed hydra with a lighter.
Tell Hercules to just do better.
You’ll for sure get rid of the visible parts above ground, but what you’re really doing is stimulating the root system to send up multiple, more robust resprouts.
It is highly resilient to fire.
Okay, then dig it up!
You can for the smaller infestations, for sure.
Assuming you also remove the entire root system.
But it is not effective for established or larger plants due to the risk of leaving behind the resilient root crown.
Once the plant is big enough and established well enough, manual digging becomes impractical and carries a high risk of failure.
Any root fragments left behind will cause the plant to resprout vigorously, necessitating chemical follow-up treatment anyway.
Thanks, I’m depressed now.
Don’t be!
Public awareness, the development of management plans, and identifying and planting native alternatives all work together to combat it.
Let’s do our part and talk about what we can do together.
Autumn Olive as Food and Fuel
From bush to bush, the tartness will vary.
The tartness will also vary depending on the time of year you harvest.
Just a heads up, that tartness is tannic acid.
Ew. Heachaches. I know.
But check this out: You can “blet” them (lol).
By bletting them for a few months, you’re using your freezer to make the fruit think that winter has come.
Because before the first frost, they can be pretty tart.
It’s also smart because after the first frost, wildlife will be going bananas over them, potentially leaving you with very little.
If you don’t want to wait for so long, you can also boil them by cooking and straining or leaching them in water.
A lot of recipes have you do that anyways.
Freezing is great for having them over the winter.
Conclusion
I’ll be covering each of these things in depth soon.
The point of this post was to just introduce you to the plant, how bad the situation is, what we could harvest from it, and what we can do to fight it.
Touch grass,
Trevor.
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