Japanese Knotweed as a food

Andy Hamilton · Mon May 29, 2006 3:14 pm

I have heard that japanese knotweed can be used as a food, used rather like rhubarb and only the yound shoots are eaten. Anyone tried it?

I also know that disturbing JK can cause it to spread and as it is illegal to cutivate it and of course you would not want this to spread anywhere. Is trying to eat it with all this in mind more trouble than it is worth?

Shirley · Post: # 24775Post **Shirley** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:51 am

I spotted something about this the other day - wasn't this link... will see if I can find the stuff I was looking at too... but this has info and some good advice about making sure it's in really good clean soil to avoid pollutants - but I guess that's common sense really.

http://www.knottybits.com/knotweed/KnotweedLinks.htm

http://www.econetwork.net/~wildmansteve ... tweed.html

Luath · Post: # 24779Post **Luath** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:59 am

I have heard you can make wine out of it, but not seen anything about eating it.

hedgewizard · Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:21 pm

That's interesting, a spring crop that's like rhubarb only better! Still wouldn't want it in the garden but I reckon if you kept knocking it back to ground level and eating the stems as they came up it'd be one way to get rid of it eventually. Works for nettles...

Andy Hamilton · Fri Jun 30, 2006 3:17 pm

hedgewizard wrote:That's interesting, a spring crop that's like rhubarb only better! Still wouldn't want it in the garden but I reckon if you kept knocking it back to ground level and eating the stems as they came up it'd be one way to get rid of it eventually. Works for nettles...

From what I know about this plant it won't work it is one of the most invasive plants there is.

hedgewizard · Fri Jun 30, 2006 3:54 pm

I guess it's more enthusiastic than most gardeners then! I've looked at the piccies and realised we have some by the roadside a couple of miles away...

debbie · Post: # 25595Post **debbie** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:37 pm

There was an article from a professional forrager in the Saturday telegraph magazine last week about eating this...i'll see if I still have the magazine. By all accounts the steamed inner bit (how technical an expression is that?

) was thoroughly enjoyed by the journalist

hedgewizard · Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:34 pm

What in the hell is a professional forager? How do you make a living foraging? Am I in the wrong job?

Luath · Post: # 25734Post **Luath** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:49 pm

I think it is some kind of bistort that is used in dock pudding; isn't Japanese knotweed a type of bistort? Better find out before I try it............

Millymollymandy · Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:33 am

hedgewizard wrote:What in the hell is a professional forager? How do you make a living foraging? Am I in the wrong job?

Presumably you run very expensive courses taking people out into the countryside showing them stuff they can forage!

Or even better, get a TV contract to make a series about it!!

debbie · Post: # 25757Post **debbie** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:52 am

No this one only ate forraged or road kill food and sold any surplus to high class restaurants : wild sorrel, mushrooms, elderflower etc.

hedgewizard · Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:36 am

I'm definitely in the wrong job then. I tried selling mushrooms to a local restaurant a few years ago but they said a village lady had been giving them mushrooms for years. They showed me a basket of them, and it was mainly... oh, I think it was brown roll-rims... no immediate danger but regular consumption causes liver damage. Be careful in them posh nosh joints!