Picked a bunch of polkweed. When I boil and re boil should I eat leaves only or the stems OK to eat too? Also how long to boil each time?

Do I smell someone trying to stir the pot?..so to speak...LMFAO

To be honest..I've only used the leaves for eating. The rest goes (minus the seeds) into the compost

After it reaches rapid boil, let it boil about 10 minutes. The water will turn green and foam. Then drain that off, rinse a couple times, add new water, ..... At this point I add my smoked bacon or salt pork. Then allow it to boil till the meat is done. About 1 to 1.5 hours. Eat only the leaves. Pick only the leaves. Cook only the leaves.
And be sure what you have is poke weed.

(First off, trust me guys, it took a LOT of time & finger clenching & unclenching before I just couldn't resist posting to this, but I just have to know. I guess it's sort of like a train wreck to me.)

Allenwrench - what is going on? More than one person - on TWO other Pokeweed threads you've started besides this one - has told you & supplied excellent & valid information as to not only how to prepare Pokeweed, but that only the spring shoots should be used. Yet here you are back again asking whether to eat the stems or just the leaves of what are now obviously mature plants.

Seriously, are you starving? You began another thread recently re: whether or not you could start eating the leaves (squash, etc.) of your plants that aren't producing yet, & now you want to start eating a plant that - even by folks who like it - is supposed to be a "spring tonic" sort of wild edible - not a diet mainstay.

quote:

Originally posted by BreezyGardener:
(First off, trust me guys, it took a LOT of time & finger clenching & unclenching before I just couldn't resist posting to this, but I just have to know. I guess it's sort of like a train wreck to me.)

Allenwrench - what is going on? More than one person - on TWO other Pokeweed threads you've started besides this one - has told you & supplied excellent & valid information as to not only how to prepare Pokeweed, but that only the spring shoots should be used. Yet here you are back again asking whether to eat the stems or just the leaves of what are now obviously mature plants.

Seriously, are you starving? You began another thread recently re: whether or not you could start eating the leaves (squash, etc.) of your plants that aren't producing yet, & now you want to start eating a plant that - even by folks who like it - is supposed to be a "spring tonic" sort of wild edible - not a diet mainstay.

No not starving, but am preparing for starving possibilities down the road if and when TEOTWAK arrives.

I had lost interest in poke after reading it was a hassle to cook. (OK, not a big hassle, but don't like to have to think about such things as poison one way and OK the other way.)

But then gained interest once I saw how much poke was growing here, So thought I'd give it a try.

My pokeweed is about 6 to 8 inches tall. It is not spring, but they have only started to grow in the last few weeks. ( I guess)

Do these relatively new pokes fit the bill? Or do I have to eat them by the calendar?

And thanks for the reminder...it is supposed to be a "spring tonic" sort of wild edible - not a diet mainstay

Oh for heaven's sake.

While there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be prepared in case of a disaster, far too many folks here seem to be living their lives thinking about nothing but "TEOTWAWKI" (aka "The End Of The World As We Know It").

Don't you people realize how much of the pure joy of living you're sucking out of your lives? I can think of a hundred more interesting & productive things I could do than sit around boiling up a pot of weeds 2-3 times & thinking how it will help me survive "TEOTWAWKI". And chances are excellent that if "TEOTWAWKI" actually happens in your lifetime, all the weeds will either be gone or contaminated, so that sort of puts you out of luck, doesn't it?

Eye of the hurricane/
listen to yourself churn/
world serves its own needs/
I forget the damn words/ (lol)
It's the end of the world as we know it... It's the end of the world as we know it... and I feel fine...

Sorry and apologies to R.E.M.

Here's a new acronym, I just made it up.
PISTBELA-IESO: Pokeweed is supposed to be eaten like asparagus- in early spring only. Otherwise it's as good as russian roulette. The least you will get is a good raging diarrhea, vomiting and other fun cathartic effects. Have fun...

quote:

Originally posted by BreezyGardener:
Oh for heaven's sake.

... I can think of a hundred more interesting & productive things I could do than sit around boiling up a pot of weeds 2-3 times & thinking how it will help me survive "TEOTWAWKI".

What he finds interesting is all that should be important to him, not what you find interesting.

If anyone here wants to graze on the clover in their front yard, they are not in any way obligated to justify it to you or anyone else first, whether or not you can find a hundred other things more interesting. They can ask their questions without concern that a newcomer to the forum is going to get all moderator-like.

Now, get off his back, please.

Wayne

I only speak in terms not letting people get poisoned, but I'm not going to talk about this anymore either. This is not my responsbility. Good man, Wayne.

Allenrwrench,

It may interest you to know that Pokeweed has a long culinary history and was a commercially available product at one time.

Pokeweed

Heed Farmhound's advice, especialy about making sure what you are harvesting is pokeweed.

Heed the advice from needmorespace, my former neighbor from the Empire State, and do not poison thyself. We look forward to your posts (gardening posts, that is.)

Wayne

An update...

Almost put pokeweed leaves in the salad raw. Was running out of greens for my salad and a small bag of pokeweed was in the fridge. Then caught myself when I remembered what it was. I'd better mark that stuff if I am going to store it!

quote:

Originally posted by BreezyGardener:
Oh for heaven's sake.

While there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be prepared in case of a disaster, far too many folks here seem to be living their lives thinking about nothing but "TEOTWAWKI" (aka "The End Of The World As We Know It").

Don't you people realize how much of the pure joy of living you're sucking out of your lives? I can think of a hundred more interesting & productive things I could do than sit around boiling up a pot of weeds 2-3 times & thinking how it will help me survive "TEOTWAWKI". And chances are excellent that if "TEOTWAWKI" actually happens in your lifetime, all the weeds will either be gone or contaminated, so that sort of puts you out of luck, doesn't it?

Yes, tons of IF's, AND's or BUT's that could happen. We just don't know. We just do what we can and hope for the best.

But I do the footwork to do what I can do, irrespective of all the 'what ifs' that people throw up for excuses to do nothing.

As futurists we try to anticipate future events and the direction the world is headed in and as survivalists we try to prepare for those circumstances.

My concerns are around peak oil, peak NG, overpopulation and some other related areas. I am not too worried abut Nukes.

My survival mentor says to prepare for the unthinkable one must first think the unthinkable.

All this has to be done within reason. But what is reasonable for one, is unreasonable for another...so we should remember we only have to please ourselves with our efforts.

It would be one thing if we all reverted back to rural living, burning trees for fuel and housing and living within our comfortable means allotted to us by nature, as our ancestors did back in the day. But seven billion people can't burn the trees!

We must accept that we have built our world on unsustainable means - a means built artificially on fossil fuel.

And when we live out of balance with natures intended means there is a price to pay to come back in balance with nature. And the price usually extracts pain from us in the adjustment process.

It has been estimated that for the earth to sustainably support its population without fossil fuels a 90% dieoff must occur. I don't know if that is the right figure, but I do know humans could not live as they do unless it was funded by artificial means via fossil fuels.

http://dieoff.org/

So if this dieoff happens, of course there will be great amounts of pain in the world. But it is natures intended balancing act. It also reminds us that nature does not bow to humans - it is humans that always bow to nature.

I think people come to this topic for different reasons. But we all have the same basic survival instinct in common with one another.

Some of us do a great job surviving catastrophes and some of us cannot even survive a stretch of hot weather and die.

So it takes knowledge, dedication and action to be successful at it. Remember, knowledge without application is useless

Sometimes we jump the gun with survival mania and do it in an unbalanced way.

The way I work my survival preparedness is to do the footwork, prepare, educate and hold it on the back burner unless needed. Until that need, I just live life the best I can.

Without that mindset one cannot be at peace with life, as we are always looking for doom and gloom every day...every hour...every minute. And some survivalists seem to be disappointed if the don't get disaster!

This gives you your base. If things seem to be heading to code orange, step it up a notch. If code red is about to hit, I'm sure you will know it and it is time to implement your plan to the fullest.

So you switch gears from being a short term survivalist to a longer term one.

One important note. Hoarding food is not the same as being able to produce food. So I would suggest anyone interested in survival seriously learn to grow and raise their own food as well as be master foragers if your local is conducive for foraging.

Whether we are talking about pokeweed or whatever it is something to study up if one looks to foraging for food as an option to eat.

Mental preparedness and physical fitness are the foundations of all our survival quests. For the mind guides the body, but an unfit body is not able to respond to the minds guidance.

We become mentally prepared when we are able to use the 7 Skills to defeat the 7 Enemies of Life.

The 7 Skills:

Fire Starting
Water Procurement
Shelter Building
Foraging for food
Signaling
First Aid
Self Defense


7 Enemies of Life:

Fear and anxiety
Cold and Heat
Thirst
Hunger
Boredom and Loneliness
Fatigue
Pain and Injury

In essence, we develop self confidence by mastering the skills needed to overcome any situation that arises to threaten our life.

One other point; none of us will be ultimate survivors, we all have to die one day. But the successful survivor extends his or her life beyond an earlier death...a death that was caused by ignorance of how to make that life last longer.