I have read there are about 35 species of elm trees. Of course covering all of them would be a lengthy process and is a bit beyond the scope of this blog.
And not all of them are important to homesteading, which is my primary focus.
American Elm is used for making furniture and many other things. I’ve seen cabinets and such and I like the way they look.
I’ve turned bowls and candle holders from elm and made small boxes with elm and found it hard to cut, though it is hard to work I find it worth the effort, assuming you can find a piece that isn’t split out from drying.
It’s also tough to split, especially if it’s still a bit wet. However it puts out a respectful amount of heat, some 20 million btu’s per cord.
If there is a bit of moisture left in the wood it will not put off a pleasant smell like pine does but will instead stink and be smokey.
There are better woods to be sure, however where I live there is an abundance of it and I can generally scrounge a couple of cords for free. More if I get serious about collecting it.
One year after a really bad storm I picked up four cords. All for free. Elm trees give great shade and make decent firewood among other uses. And I encourage you research into it for yourself. They drop a lot of branches and I’ve heard old timers call them widow makers because of huge branches falling out of the trees and killing people.
Slippery Elm has medicinal uses, since I’m not personally familiar with the tree or it’s uses I’ll share a link to information.
Whatever you do, do not try using elm in a smoker or cook directly over an open flames, the flavor imparted is, well, gross at best.
The seeds are edible and the young leaves may also be, I’m not sure if it depends on the type of elm or if they all are. One would need to research the matter for themselves to know for sure. Here’s a link for the seeds.
https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/herb/slippery-elm
May your ventures be met with success!
Slocum's Creak 