Beyond ornament: permaculturist Chuck Marsh helps us deepen our relationship to useful plants

New Life Journal, Feb-March, 2002 by Chuck Marsh

Common landscape trees also have usefulness far beyond their beauty. The fruits of the Chinese dogwood, Cornus kousa, are quite delicious when ripe. One of my favorites is the little leaved linden, Tilia cordata. I graze on them wherever I come across them. Lindens and their American cousin, basswood, have the most flavorful raw young leaves of any tree I know, without a trace of bitterness. Linden sap is also used for making syrup, the flowers are medicinal, and a chocolate substitute can be made from the ground flowers and immature fruit.

These few cultivated plants along with some of their uses barely scratch the surface of this subject. Once you make the shift toward learning about and recognizing the multifunctionality of our plant allies, whole worlds of possibilities begin to unfold. I haven't even begun to delve into the usefulness of our common weeds or the usefulness of the native plants of the southern Appalachians. If you'd like to explore the subject in more depth, join me and fellow permaculturist Kevin Ward at the upcoming Organic Grower's School in Asheville, NC as we look at more useful plants from a permaculture design perspective.

Chuck Marsh is a Permaculture teacher, designer, and consultant as well as being a co-founder of Earthaven Ecovillage, an amateur natural builder, and a rascal in training. Though somewhat elusive, he can generally be tracked down at 828-669-1759 or chuck@earthaven.org