[Magdalen] In the jungle

[Sibyl Smirl]

In defense of Poke.

It seems that I always have to be the contrarian, so here I go again on 
another rant.  Poke is one of my favorite plants.  "Tree-sized" is an 
exaggeration (I've never seen it taller than about five feet, and I've 
seen it in the richest, well-composted soil and full sun), and it's 
poisonous to the iggernant, but all true Rednecks love it.  Euell 
Gibbons, in "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" and Gene Stratton Porter in 
"The Harvester" got quite poetic about it, in different aspects.

http://tinyurl.com/ncypj5s

First-year seedling plants aren't much use as a vegetable.  You want the 
spring shoots from ancient, massive roots, less than 8" tall, and fat as 
big toes, not yet purple. Absolutely delicious cooked in bacon fat! 
Allen Canning used to put up a lot of it in tin cans every year, but I 
hadn't seen it in the grocery stores lately: just found out why when 
googling for URLs to put in this.  I don't know whether Allen's actually 
had people growing it commercially, or paid woods-running kids for all 
they could bring in.  You just want to harvest the first shoots from the 
big established roots: if you don't leave some shoots to grow for the 
season, you kill the plant, and country people with good sense don't 
_want_ to kill the plant.
http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=7054
http://www.allens-restructuring.com/
http://sagercreekveggies.com/#

It's a powerful and valuable medicinal: unfortunately, Big Pharma can't 
patent it.  The medicinal qualities are what makes it poisonous, of 
course.  Redneck herbalists used to preserve the berry juice to use in a 
Spring Tonic, but I don't know the formula.  Basic warning is never to 
eat the berries, just use them for ink and dye.  As a dye plant, it 
makes a gorgeous color, but the secret mordant that keeps the color from 
fading has been lost.  What my husband used to hate in terms of purple 
bird-shit on cars was the mulberry.

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/pokroo57.html
http://www.herbalremediesinfo.com/poke-herb.html






-- 
Sibyl Smirl
I will take no bull from your house!  Psalms 50:9a
mailto:polycarpa3 at ckt.net