Does Anyone Have Osage Orange Trees?

[ellie]

Also called horse apple and several other names?  Do your goats eat them and could I get a few fruits for the seeds from somone?  A commercial place I found can't ship to California,  tho I know they grow here.   Thanks!

[buckrun]

I will try to get you some seed Ellie- yes the goats adore them and will kill them by stripping the bark so we have to wind wire around the base.  They love the leaves and check each day to see if there is any leaf fall or something they can reach.  Remind me later when the fruit starts to fall. 
I will mail you some. This is the tree that has wood like rock and it stands up to our humidity for fence posts- locals call it Bois 'd Arc - said bodark here. Remind me!
Lee

[ellie]

Very cool!  I'm thinking of using it as a fence/windbreak near goat fences when I get them.  Also, Lee, when you have time, I'd love a start of horseraddish!  What can I trade you?  Need a book on marketing?  or?

[buckrun]

You don't have to trade me anything!  Just keep sharing your great info tips- like on the website thread !  I will get you some HR when it goes dormant but you will have to jog my quicksand for a brain!

[Sondra]

My mom used to slice the fruit, dry and paint or varnish it and use in fall arrangements with cattails etc.  Made for beautiful  decorations. 

[ellie]

I think, eventually, it will be fun to play with, but the first thing I want to do is plant around the fence for better predator control that the goats can eat, too.  Some of the predators here are two-legged....

[hsmomof4]

We have them coming out of our ears. As Lee mentioned, they make great fence posts (they are called "hedge" here, though my husband grew up calling them "Monkey Ball Trees" in OH and PA). They will hold up longer than treated posts, believe it or not. They are also good for firewood, but they burn VERY hot and tend to pop a lot, so most people burn one log of Osage Orange along with the rest of the wood being something else. The wood is an interesting color, very bright yellow when freshly cut. They can have thorns sometimes, too.

[stoneyheightsfarm]

Good golly, anybody wants these things?  They kill a chainsaw blade quick--Bois d'Arc (wood of iron) is an apt name.  My goats don't like them--much prefer maple, redbud, and cedar.  You can't get rid of them --if you cut them back, they grow back with a vengeance, and even burning the stump doesn't work.  You need a bulldozer.  And talk about thorny!  All those little green balls are such a mess each fall, too.  I'd send you every mature tree off my place if you wanted them if I could.  I hate them!

[buckrun]

 
Ours are dropping fruit now but I think they need to mature for awhile so I will send you the whole thing Ellie.  PM me your addy.

[ellie]

Billie...that's why I want them, a hedge around the outside of the goat fence to help keep predators out, but one the goats can nibble without being toxic...And a source of firewood should I ever need any....