himalayan balsam, not all bad

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himalayan balsam, not all bad
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Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 16 8:23 pm Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

For the amount of stuff I think we are talking about, a small chipper would be tedious, and a larger chipper tends to fling stuff about rather vigorously....

It's not like the material is going to bog down the chipper (though you might worry about where all the juices that are freed will go). I think it would deal with it as fast as you could feed it. So unless you're planning on using machinery to move the material around, I don't think I see the point in a larger chipper.

Just what I would expect.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 16 9:20 pm Post subject:

Slim wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

For the amount of stuff I think we are talking about, a small chipper would be tedious, and a larger chipper tends to fling stuff about rather vigorously....

Of course, with you being across the pond, you may have a different idea as to what constitutes "small"...

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 16 11:09 pm Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

Slim wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

For the amount of stuff I think we are talking about, a small chipper would be tedious, and a larger chipper tends to fling stuff about rather vigorously....

Of course, with you being across the pond, you may have a different idea as to what constitutes "small"...

Just your usual backyard model, something like this: https://youtu.be/-0WSbZyjvX0?t=2m38s

In reality I was thinking something like this: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTuD2hp8xSuLDAnpgj-LgZt7W3EQ_xPqRhXWBNffmMtP_j2jrkApw

or maybe even an apple eater from a cidering operation (probably hard to find a volunteer willing to lend theirs however!)

buzzy

Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 16 12:22 am Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

Slim wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

For the amount of stuff I think we are talking about, a small chipper would be tedious, and a larger chipper tends to fling stuff about rather vigorously....

Of course, with you being across the pond, you may have a different idea as to what constitutes "small"...

Hmmm - chipper on invasive weeds. HB might be all right, but you really really wouldn't want to get people putting Giant Hogweed in one.

Henry

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 12:32 pm Post subject:

buzzy wrote:

Hmmm - chipper on invasive weeds. HB might be all right, but you really really wouldn't want to get people putting Giant Hogweed in one.

I was thinking some kind of big macerator...

But back to OP... I was told today that Himalayan balsam seeds make a very nice oil.
The tricky question now is how to harvest them in sensible quantities, and ideally remove the plants at the same time.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15988

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 16 7:11 am Post subject:
Probably the same as some other plants. Pull when the plant when the seeds are nearly but not quite ripe so they don't fall out and spread, and put the heads in a large paper bag. Hang up to dry and shake seeds out. Destroy plant. This is the way ragwort is hand pulled and the heads put in a plastic sack. The whole lot is then burnt.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46239
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 16 11:15 pm Post subject:
im not sure about oil but the seeds make a fair black pepper substitute. toxicity might be an issue as not much seems to eat any part of the plant so i haven�t tried more than a small amount.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15988

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 16 7:16 am Post subject:
That could be because it is toxic, or because, being an alien plant, nothing has developed a taste for it.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46239
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 16 12:11 pm Post subject:

naptha quinones, alkaloids, glycosides all get mentions ,

leaves almost certainly toxic by ingestion

i could not find any ld50s for it but several close relatives come out at 3000 to 5000mg/kg in rodents. so a decent sized portion of leaves etc would likely be a bit iffy.

it has a few medicinal uses
heptoprotective ( similar to milk thistle- sylimarin)
anti fungal (see naptha quinones)
ingredient in pile cream
topical for contact dermatitis, bee stings etc etc

i would consider it not food (a few seeds are probably below toxic levels)

the oil might be ok (see castor oil etc ) but i recon i would want to send a sample for full toxicity testing before frying my chips or dressing a salad and as far as public sale i would consider jump many hoops first to be essential.

sorry not to find more but most effort seems to have been directed at killing it rather than looking for uses

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15988

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 16 7:36 am Post subject:
As you say from the amount needed to be ingested by rodents, it doesn't look too toxic, and most plants contain alkaloids etc.

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