What to do with NYC’s Most Unpopular Weeds, 2012
In the summer of 2012, Jeff Huchison and I set about raising silkworms, specifically the Samia cynthia, otherwise known as an Ailanthus Silkworm. This particular silkworm feeds on a diet of Ailanthus leaves. We believed that by raising Sami cynthia we could help transform the Ailanthus tree (a maligned urban “weed” tree) into something useful. Our idea was to create popular products made from local silk produced by the NYC-based Ailanthus silkworms. And in doing so we could thin out the unwanted population of the Ailanthus trees in NYC.
