Thread devoted to kudzu!

Bill, do you make any soups or any neat dishes with the kudzu roots?

 

are you an alcoholic?

 

we havent really messed with the roots much. we fry the leaves a lot though.
they taste just like a super thin potato chip..

and yes joker man it is great for weaning a alcoholic off booze..

 

I read in a book how the Japanese use and value the kudzu in their kitchens and yet to many North Americans the plant is a vile and relentless weed. But there's a way to turn the root into a starchy powder of some sort to use for cooking.

Very glad you can fry the leaves! I had no idea! :cheers2:

 

every part of kudzu is highly nutritious and edible.the problem is harvesting it can be a pain. the roots can be 10 feet deep and it is a haven for bees and snakes,not to mention poison ivy loves to grow with it.

yes you take the root and dry it and grind it and it makes a thickening agent like corn starch.

the blossoms are very sweet and almost like a grape flavor. you can make jelly out of them.

lots and lots of uses..

http://grandpappy.info/rkudzu.htm

http://www.maxshores.com/kudzu/

 

WOW! I had no idea that it had all of those uses. Thank you Bill!

*reads*

 

you should look at the research on kudzu and alcoholism.. fascinating..

Kudzu as a treatment for alcoholism - Online Alcoholism ...


Research on Kudzu for Alcoholism and Hangovers


Kudzu & alcohol craving | Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients ...


Kudzu Reduces Alcohol Consumption | Bastyr Center for Natural Health

 

oh and i forgot its biofuel potential..

Kudzu a Potential Biofuel


Kudzu could be the next biofuel


Biofuel Feedstocks Gain a New Candidate: Kudzu :


Kudzu as Biofuel, a Possibility

 

I was reading in Reader's Digest yesterday that they were using Kudzu to treat Cluster headaches.

 

Haha, what are you.. a grandma?

I'm jk.. but for real.. I only ever see old people readin Reader's Digest.

 

readers digest is great reading for those with ADHD..lol

 

I was at the dentist's.

 

Ok, then that's perfectly acceptable haha.

 

Because it is...it is absolutely destroying ecosystems. Kudzu climbs trees and ends up killing them when the Kudzu competes with it for sunlight. Same with other plants on the ground - Kudzu just destroys everything.

While it may be fine and dandy in Japan, there is nothing in the Americas to keep it in check and it flourishes. If it were the only plant to exist, it would have an extremely negative effect on the rest of the ecosystem

I don't get where people think that killing alien and dangerous plants is bad. Same thing with hunting. It is called conservationism and without it, most of your wildlife would look extremely different.

 

How do you define an alien and dangerous plant? Where is your limit for when it 'invaded'? What criteria do you want to use?

Before you answer that, keep in mind that after an invasive species has been introduced and thrives in an area, it usually completely replaces other species that are in the area. So a plant that invaded 100 years ago, is now part of the ecosystem and even if you could magically wipe it out, you would leave a gaping hole in the ecosystem that would throw everything out of wack for centuries while everything shifted around to cover for it....

 

That is not Kudzu though. Alien as in, brought in by human means. Kudzu was brought to the Americas in the late 1800s and ever since then, people have been fighting it from taking over wildlife. There are literally teams of people hired in places like Atlanta just to keep it from taking over.

It is the same deal with animal species as well. Chinese Lungfish have been introduced to the Americas and have procedurally killed maaaany ponds filled with natural aquatic species, some of which are unique to that pond...

Here are some links on Kudzu problems, specifically. I can find more info on other species as well.

http://www.fsu.edu/~imsp/silent_invaders/new_weeds/guide/plants/kudzu/kudzuproblem.html

http://geography.about.com/library/misc/uckudzu.htm

http://dnr.state.il.us/orc/exotics/pdfs/kudzu1.pdf

http://www.kokudzu.com/MarionAlexander.html

Result of kudzu:

That is NOT a healthy ecosystem



The thing is though, that Kudzu is not a part of the ecosystem. If you DON'T wipe it out then it will continue taking over the forests of the Americas. Once it is exterminated completely, we have the opportunity to mimic the remaining forests in the area by planting more trees and ground cover plants. This is a big point of conservation - returning the land to its natural point. I recommend that you read up on it. "Going green" does not entail that you go hands off of everything - we have made many mistakes that we need to right. And even when those mistakes are taken care of, we have to continue on the upkeep - we, as humans, have a conscious and intellect in sciences for a reason, we can make decisions to try and benefit the Earth

 

ahhh but there is and there could be even more ways.

kudzu makes excellent livestock feed,it has medicinal,nutritional as well as energy uses. its just sitting there waiting to be utilized yet people just look at it as a ugly weed.

truth is these folks with these nice fancy lawns are destroying natural ecosystems on a much greater scale by planting grass and shrubs strictly for ornamental value and killing every little native "weed" they see so as to not have their lawn look out of place.

you can walk through our yard (and we often do) and pick a whole salad out of those "weeds" that most folks do everything in their power to control.

the sad fact is,you and many many others are looking at it all wrong..

dig up your yard and late nature take its course..

 

ahh but once again it may not be natural to the area but it IS a very healthy ecosystem as well as a addition to surrounding ecosystems.

i have lived 2 miles from a kudzu patch for nearly 20 years. wildlife loves the stuff. it makes for a hunters paradise. deer,turkey,rabbits,you name it. its great cover for snakes,groundhogs and the like.

you think its not healthy because man cant tame it with chemicals.

once again,man should learn to live with it,utilize it and coexist with it..

again, your looking at it all wrong.

 

lol, from those pictures, I will happily admit it qualifies as an invasive plant... wow...

But, what would happen to those areas if you could magically make it all disappear now?

It reminds me of duckweed in a way. I've seen people complain about it in similar manners and produce pictures of streams and lakes just choked with the stuff. If you dig around though, you will also find some people who have had it growing in a home pond for years and they keep it under control by harvesting it for livestock and for green manure.

Of course, I dont think duckweed ever climbed trees... lol

 

Not at all...I have gathered my stance on this from places such as Missouri Conservationist, a magazine that is very much against the use of pesticides, herbicides, and the rampant killing of ANY species - which is what Kudzu does.

A healthy ecosystem does not consist of one plant alone. If that one plant was introduced to a disease that killed it, then there would be no food for animals, those animals would die. It is very dangerous and very volatile to have that possibility.

Ecosystems are also much more than what you see on the surface value, which I believe is what you are only seeing (correct me if I am wrong), but I don't think you are realizing the dangers of this plant --

Healthy ecosystem : an ecosystem in which structure and functions allow the maintenanceof biodiversity, biotic integrity and ecological processes over time. [Ministry of Forests -- Government of British Columbia]

http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2008/04/23/what-is-a-healthy-ecosystem/ <- good article

I think you are reading it all wrong, personally.

While, sure, it may be a useful plant in ways, it is in no way healthy for the ecosystem.

It is completely invasive and dangerous. If we could get rid of it in the forests, we can replant. Forests are incredible in their ability to regrow, I can literally bring you to physical places that have been burnt to cinders years ago where there is now lush forests of DIVERSE plant species.

And of course there may be uses for kudzu or other invasive plants. Many people don't wish for it to be completely exterminated, but it needs to be followed with serious upkeep, which is more than some people wish to do. I believe it grows at some ridiculous speed at around 1-2" a DAY