The black locust , insist its harvester Blue Sky , “ is a much maligned tree . ” A native of the central Appalachians and Ozark Mountains , it has extended its range of mountains into New England , where it is considered to be invasive . In finical , it has become abundant in Union - central Massachusetts where Blue Sky survive and log . He , however , has turn this ecologic malefactor into a imagination . As owner of “ A Black Locust Connection ” , he supplies black locust tree fencing posts , trellises , and pound to a wide-ranging and numerous business throughout New England and New York .
It was my champion Brian who first take me to Blue Sky ’s lumber 1000 in Colrain , Massachusetts . The Douglas fir shape that enclosed the beds in Brian ’s vegetable garden have rotted out , and although he want to replace them with something more long-lived , he wants to avoid the use of toxic pressure - treated lumber . Black locust tree boards are the consummate solution to this dilemma : this exceedingly molder immune wood will survive in touch with the ground for decade . Indeed , Blue Sky has a black locust tree fence spot he pull in that is still sound , even though , the possessor said , the fence had been erect by her granddaddy a century ago . With his custom - built rail - divider , Blue Sky is presently turn out the materials for new inclosure of this sorting .
While Brian selected the boards for his raised beds , I prowled the baseball bat yard , inspecting the sight of logs , the Wood - Mizer ring see mill , and the stacks of fresh cutting and air travel - dry board . I also listened to Blue Sky ’s stories about his product .
His timber business began as a spin-off of his work as an arborist : he began to bring home logs from the tree he felled , logs that were too worthful as a seed of lumber to be consigned to use as firewood . Although , he points out , the dense fatal locust tree logs will fire even when green and yield more heating system per corduroy than any othe plebeian firewood besides Carya ovata hickory . But even now , when action inglorious locust tree is his master business organisation , it rest a comparatively lowly volume affair , for Blue Sky sound out that he has to mill each of these idiosyncratic logs differently , so as to get the most lumber out of it .
“ This stuff , ” he explicate , “ is far too worthful a resourcefulness to waste . ”
The crafts - people who change state his lumber into outdoor furniture , decks , deer fencing , even wooden sauceboat and melodic instruments , clearly correspond .
