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Page16,THE PALMETTO,Winter 1992
Wild Foods
Native
by Dick Deuerling and Peggy Lantz
As always,collect your wild foods in safe
places, not along roads where pesticides
may have been sprayed, or automobile
exhaust poisons have collected. Be safe,
not sorry.
Poke salat (Phytolaccaamericana) is
another edible plant that has lots of
It was best known, however, as an
of
use
edible
as
wrote
juice
War
berry
Civil
the
the
during
stems
the
and
leaves,
The
toxic.
are
red,
turned
have
they
the
of
lot
a
like
seem
it!
worth
it's
me,
much
too
because
breaded,
pieces,
half-inch
into
~~
up
come
and
jars
Seal
year.
last
warm,
a
in
them
keep
and
send up shoots over and over
again all winter for you to harvest
and eat.
Forthose of you who work with dyes,
pokeberry
is one of the few bright
red
more
for
vegetable dyes available. For more information on dyes and dying, check
with your local library; a number of
good books are available on this
subject.
reading
cook
asparagas.
while
to
off
like
spinach,
leaves
like
eaten
people.
wise
The shoots can then be sliced cross-
soil,
with
plant.
the
eat
be
believe
poke can havea laxativeeffect on some
dark place,watering them occasionally.
Theywill
Recommended
the
at
ground
the
of
out
year's
strip
and
can
but,
overeat,
don't
is,
it
But even when you find out how good
was
also
juice
the
that
said
is
It
pies.
used as a food coloring for cake icing.
The Portuguesetried using the berries
the shoots.
when
and
the
in
up
up
February
in
comes
come
that
red
recognized
be
can
that's
any
shoots
before
Florida,
They
In
come
or
stems
trouble,
The berries contai n many small black
poisonous seeds.Apparently the Pennsylvania Dutch used the juice and purple pulp of the berries in jellies and
from
ones
com-
poison
the
is
stem
roots.
the
the
up
from
up
new
spring,
stems.
March.
they
previous
on,
separately
utes).
tween 114
and V2inch in diameter.
Wash the shoots, be sure all spiders
and little creatures are removed, cover
with water, and bring to a boil. Pour off
the first water, cover again with fresh
water, bring to a boil again, and simmer
until tender (about six or eight minmay
leaves,
When they are about eight inches
tall, snap them off at ground level, leaving all poisonous (emetic) root parts
behind. Youcan cook them with leaves
This
the
hanging in racemes in spring, followed
in summer and fall by dark purple,
slightly flattened berries that are be-
minutes. Allow two months for spices
to penetrate
You can cultivate poke as well as collecting it wild. Dig the roots after the
first cold snap in the fall, cover them
base of the dried red framework of the
the
Salad Greens" for 6311:
a can!
For those who don't recognize this
plant, it is a large, rank perennial that
growsuptoeightorninefeettall.ltcan
be found in old fields, cultivated lands,
fence rows, roadsides, and newly disturbed areas,where it thrives in deep,
rich soil.
The leavesare oval to lance-shaped,
very smooth, entire (not toothed), with
rather long stems that are arranged
alternately on the red to pu rplecolored branches.
The greenish-white flowers arise on
fresh
The only edible parts of poke are the
15-oz. cans of"Griffin's Whole Leaf Poke
opposite
that
Young poke shoots can also be pickled after being blanched. Packin sterile
jars with a red bay leaf, vinegar, some
sugar, mustard seed, and peppergrass
seed, if available fresh, or use dried
color
red
the
that
say
timers
old
The
going
ing
into
and
Arkansaswhere, to my surprise, I found
stems
other
preserve in boiling water bath for five
a
from
home
way
my
on
States
United
six-month
camping
trip, I went
supermarkets
in both Oklahoma
six-inch
greens
of
number
dandelions,
mustards,
and
greens to your "spring tonic'~
the
through
travels
my
In
Africa.
after
to
exported
also
was
It
parts.
edible
mature
ink; hence, the name "inkberry:' Some
of these historic letters, stored in archives, are still readable to this day.
edible plant, and it is one of the few
that were exported to Europe, mainly
France, where it is still cultivated for its
North
using
plant.
as poke may be used in a combination
pot. You may add dock, peppergrass,
home
Soldiers
poisonous
fresh in the spri ng about the sametime
berries.
letters
tremely
any
in
caution
poke
ex-
an
urge
We
valuable
a
was
it
others
still
to
and
plant, to others, a medicinal
plant,
edible
fried, and eaten like okra.
A
comknown
these
all
well
for
to darken their red wine, but it ruined
the flavor, causing the king to order all
poke to be cut before it formed fruit.
for different
was
it
some
peoples
reasons-to
by different
was
it
reason
because
good
is
names
mon
There
common names, including
pigeon
berry, inkberry,
redwood,
scoke,
pocan, cancer jalap, garget, fiamoli,
pokeweed, redweed, and pokeberry.
recipes for poke and many other wild
edibles:
Roadside
Rambles,
by Marie
Mellinger, available for $6.00, postage
paid, from the author: 712 Henry Dr.,
Clayton, Georgia 30525.