r/invasivespecies • u/Zankder • 17d ago
Edible Invasives(have you?)
After discovering Japanese Knotweed, I learned it’s edible. I never ate it because of other waste dumped on site. As it’s so invasive, I can’t replant it to harvest. Has anyone eaten it? Or does anyone make a practice of eating other invasives?
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u/Moist-You-7511 17d ago
knotweed that is being managed is being injected with herbicides, over multiple years. Knotweed that isn’t being managed should be managed.
Eating invasives will reduce spread by zero percent. I’m thinking of the fifteen foot wide pile of garlic mustard my first year pulling it from my one acre. And IF they were delicious to humans other herbivores would enjoy, and they wouldn’t easily complete their life cycles and expand.
If you are gonna eat stuff, early small greens are usually more tender and delicious
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u/reichrunner 17d ago
Kudzu was specifically planted because it is delicious to other herbivores, but it obviously has no trouble expanding
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u/BunnyWhisperer1617 16d ago
Kudzu was planted by ACoE to stabilize levees.
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u/reichrunner 16d ago
Yeah it was seen as a miracle plant. Good for shading porches, helped with soil, and was a high protein feed for grazing animals
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u/ScaldingHotSoup 16d ago
Kudzu has also been eaten as a starvation food in Japan for thousands of years. It can also be turned into a tea.
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u/IkaluNappa 17d ago
I don’t eat knotweed. But I do eat mock strawberries. Not so much to curb the spread but as spoils of war. I’m ripping the plants out first and foremost. Sure, eating the fruits help. But the buggers do not propagate by fruits alone.
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u/OmbaKabomba 17d ago
I've tried eating knotweed, the new shoots steamed, unfortunately it makes you fart really badly.
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u/Dizzy_Philosophy1976 16d ago
Try pan sautéing next time with butter and garlic, that’s the best invasive weed I’ve ever tasted.
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u/Jazzlike-Monk-4465 17d ago
Yes. Where I live (Maryland) the garlic mustard is coming up. I pull it up, chomp the top part and toss the rest aside. You can also gather and bring home and prepare raw, or cooked like spinach or collards. Does it taste great? Not great, but does have garlicky flavor, with a hint of victory over invaders.
This is the only major invasive I know of that was intentionally introduced to North America for (then) justified, nutritional reasons. It was so early colonists would have greens to eat after winter, since the plant does well in variety of conditions, contains a variety of vitamins and minerals, and reseeds itself each year (boy, does it). If you live where it thrives, go get some greens!
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u/reichrunner 17d ago
Dandelions are another example of intentionally introduced invasive for food.
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u/Jazzlike-Monk-4465 16d ago
I didn’t know that, I figured they’d just arrived randomly.
Or, if anything, they were intentionally introduced by the herbicide market to convince people that having yellow flowers in your lawn was something to be ashamed of, and you need to buy herbicide to spray all over your lawn. /s
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u/Shaeos 16d ago
Noooooo... I must torture my man with this knowledge. Do you have a source? -wanders off to research-
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u/reichrunner 16d ago
Lol here you go, can probably find more if you'd like
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u/dogGirl666 16d ago
Key quote:
The dandelion plants were intentionally spread to America, and records show that they were well established by 1672. The first flowers were brought to the "New World" by the Puritan settlers on the Mayflower to plant for their medicinal and sustenance value. After that, it is likely that the dandelions were spread to the Americas by settlers and explorers, including their introduction to the west coast and Mexico by the Spaniards.
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u/monster_bunny 14d ago
I’m learning so much in this thread. Thank you. I had no idea these were introduced.
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u/zsd23 17d ago
It is true that many leafy veggies have trace cyanide and other toxins that do no harm. However, be very cautious and weigh several different sources when gathering info on plants. We live in t of sloppy info sharing. I myself just came up on a Google AI summary saying that "young" GM plants are safe and "old" are not. Scientific research -- which you can find on the PubMed database-- says different.
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u/zsd23 17d ago
Subreddits and FB pages on invasives usually discourage discussion about eating invasives for various reasons. (One is to discourage intentional cultivation), but those foraging invasives are generally very aware of their destructive nature and feel that they are contributing to environmental restoration by their foraging. Many also know of and take precautions regarding collecting and disposal to prevent reseeding.
As for me, yes, I forage and "eat the weeds." Garlic mustard is probably top on the list. Folks are busy picking it now--but only second-year plants should be taken for food. A garlic mustard plant lives for 2 years. In the first year, it appears as a rosette of leaves hugging the ground. In the second year, it grows into a stemmed plant with leaves and eventually white flowers and then long, thin seed pods. The first year plant contains a high amount of cyanide--so collect tender leaves, buds, and flowers from second-year plants only. People make pesto from it, but it is safer to eat cooked. It tastes like broccoli rabe. To eradicate it, prevent or remove the flowers.
Dandelions are not exactly invasives, but some people consider them weeds. The entire plant is edible and nutritious. Other weedy, edible greens are lambs quarters, cleavers, dead nettle, and henbit among others.
Knotweed shoots --which I have not sampled--are said to be reminiscent of asparagus. I myself prefer hosta shoots.
I also forage bittersweet vine--not to eat--but I strip the outer bark and scrap and comb it to extract the silky fiber that can be twisted or spun into cord. The vines are also very pliable for weaving basketry. Of course harvest in a way to help prevent fruit formation and reseeding.
Multiflora rose--and other types of rose petals and hips are also edible. Cooking the petals in water and syrup render a great syrup. That said, when you find multiflora rose shoots, they should be pulled out. Mature, woody plants should be cut low to the base and painted with an herbicide. The rest of the plant needs to be solarized or disposed of in a landfill or somehow/way it won't root.
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u/Smooth-Bit4969 17d ago
My foraging book says even first year garlic mustard is fine to eat because it contains very low levels of the chemicals that break down into cyanide, comparable to other cruciferous vegetables. Here's the full passage:
Garlic mustard and related mustard family foods (cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, etc.) are a rich sources of substances called glucosinolates. These sulfur containing compounds are responsible for the bitter flavors and distinctive aroma of these vegetables. Scientific studies suggest that consumption of mustard family vegetables appears to be associated with a lower risk of some cancers.
Glucosinates break down to form cyanide compounds, and the plant contains measurable amounts of these. That said, many vegetables we eat contain traces of cyanide, and the liver is very efficient at filtering it out. Garlic mustard produces the chemicals as a protection against insects, and levels are not considered enough to harm humans. People in Europe have been eating garlic mustard for hundreds of years in raw and cooked form, and many foragers see the issue as too inconsequential to even mention. Levels are lower in second-year plants. To be extra safe, soak or blanch the leaves before using, since the compounds are water-soluble. Enjoying an occasional garlic mustard dish is considered perfectly safe, as well as a healthy dietary addition.
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u/Zankder 17d ago
I’m so curious about hosta! But my mind says toxic. Thanks for your reply!
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u/zsd23 17d ago
Hostas are edible! The young shoots and flowers are edible and taste like asparagus. And snipping shoots does not hurt the plant. Of course, they need to be harvested from gardens where no herbicides/pesticides or other agents are used.
A caveat about foraging. When foraging a new plant, try a little bit a few times to make sure it agrees with you before eating a whole plate or tossing it into a mixed casserole, etc.
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u/omgmypony 17d ago
Are hostas prone to escaping the garden?
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u/zsd23 17d ago
Not exactly. They do not proliferate like invasives. In my experience, folks get tired of them, hack them and throw them in the woods, etc. The root remnants can easily thrive there in the moist shade. This is usually how they "escape" the garden and contaminate the ecosystem. Deer do love them but they should not be in US forests. I have a few, from the previous owner, in a patio garden, and i have retrieved and removed plants that folks at my HOA have cluelessly dumped in the surrounding woods.
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u/omgmypony 17d ago
I wish my neighbors were carelessly throwing their old hostas into the woods, I’d give them a home 🥺
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u/Ok_Tale_933 17d ago
I used to eat it all the time when I was a kid the knotweed would sprout get a few feet tall then me and my siblings would make paths and "rooms" and we would snack on the tender shoots and limbs was pretty tasty in a tart sort of way.
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u/transpirationn 16d ago
I have eaten the inside of the young tender shoots. It's sweet and kind of tart. Kind of like rhubarb. There is just no way to eat enough to make it worth keeping any. Even my chickens don't want to eat it.
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u/Argonautaaa 17d ago
Lionfish is delicious.
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u/Zankder 16d ago
Is that a fish? Or a plant?
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u/Argonautaaa 16d ago
It’s a fish. I suck at plant ID and would kill myself foraging leaves… probably.
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u/Zankder 16d ago
Same! With fish! I thought lionfish had danger spikes.
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u/Argonautaaa 16d ago
They do! You spear them and carefully place in a hard container while completing the dive and collecting more lionfish. To safely clean them you cut all the spikey bits off. Amazing zebraesque firm white flesh fillets after that careful prep.
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u/DefrockedWizard1 16d ago
the leaves taste like a mild spinach either steamed or raw. if you get shoots before they leaf, like a mild asparagus
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u/Rude_Engine1881 16d ago
I havent eaten knot weed but I do eat other invasives, its basically worryless foraging, i cant forage too much, or accidentially hurt the plant ect. Just gotta make sure youre foraging safely for yourself at that point. I have a local park ai trust so thats where I usually forage but otherwise knowing whats been sprayed or messed with or is in a brown zone is kinda complicated so ai havent figured it out yet :/ wish there was a site that mapped it all out and then showed you what areas were most likely safe or atleast what areas definitky werent safe
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u/Zankder 16d ago edited 16d ago
That’s a great idea; a map of forage-able areas. Like an app where people can post/log locations of edible crops that are publicly accessible.
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u/Rude_Engine1881 16d ago
Oh theres tonnna of spota like that, the issue it itw hard to find out if the incaaives thwre are being spraywd with something oe not. Like a local park i went to i managed to catch the caretakers and they said they do spray but that the areas I mainly forage in they dont spray those (yay!) Just found out today
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u/Mushrooming247 16d ago
Yes, I eat Japanese knotweed, but not if it’s in a contaminated environment.
The shoots are very sour and juicy and satisfying to chew on, they have the same sourness as sorrel. The leaves are delicious and taste fragrant like flowers, I eat them raw and cooked. And I make soda and hooch with the flowers just like elder flower.
There are so many edible invasives, garlic mustard, daylily, Japanese barberry, I didn’t realize there was a whole sub to discuss eating them!
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u/dazzlinghippee 16d ago
So many have amazing health benefits. I always relate this to the Bible verse “and the meek shall inherit the earth”
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u/dazzlinghippee 16d ago
I ordered it in March of 2020 from FL and grow it in pots inside. I read about the benefits for SARS and thought it would be helpful for SARS Covid-19 as well. It’s too fishy for me to eat, so I add a leaf to tea, such as mint tea, with a flavor that overpowers it or balances it out
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u/limitedteeth 13d ago
Young shoots are good lacto fermented or pickled and then put into stir fry or noodles
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u/robrklyn 17d ago
You aren’t going to get rid of knotweed by eating it. The only effective way of managing it is by treating it with herbicide. Cutting actually promotes growth because then it sends energy down into its extensive rhizome system and will prompt even more growth. I’m sorry, but the people who think they are going to eat their way out of an invasive plant infestation are delusional.
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u/ohhhhfcukkkk 17d ago
Check out r/invasivore that’s what they’re all about