On 11/26/07, Michael Harrison
And here is my response:
I have Amish friends who use the berries, sans seeds, to make a pokeberry wine that is very effective against arthritis, and another friend who treats his arthritis by eating five poke berries a day. He worked up to it, starting with one pokeberry and gradually increased his intake till he got to the five, and has stayed there for several years.
I also regularly hear of folks from Appalachia making poke berry pies by straining the seeds out like you suggest. However, as a wild food educator, who is dealing with inexperienced people, I would never dare to suggest thatmy students make pies out of pokeweed. It is amazing the liberties neophytes take with knowledge given to them, and how badly they can screw up even the most crystal clear directions they are given.
It is like that game where you whisper something simple in the ear of a person at one end of the line, and have them repeat it to the next person, and they to the next, and so on down the line. What that "simple something" sounds like by the time it reaches the end of the line is almost never anything like what it started out as.
To make sure students in my workshops have learned the plants I have introduced them to, I have them make recipes out of the plants. They have to gather the ingredients, and then have their identity confirmed by me or one of my assistants before they are allowed to use them in their recipe. You wouldn't believe what people think are lambsquarters, or violets, or mallows. Or, surprisingly enough, dandelions. It also tests me on how well I have taught. Student mistakes often reflect on what I have NOT taught them that I should have, so it gives me a chance for a "redo" with everybody, especially when it comes to distinctions between plants with leaves that superficially look similar, such as mallow, ground ivy, violets and young garlic mustard. This is one issue which is relatively easy to correct, but there is a more serious issue that some of my professional wild food educator colleagues tend to ignore, and that is, what is it safe to teach newcomers to foraging.
It is one thing to experiment when foraging for yourself, but another thing again to teach others to forage. The old adage that you need to learn English grammar thoroughly, so you can write according to the rules, before you take liberties with the rules to create specific effects, applies equally to teaching foraging. Live experimentally if you want, but teach conservatively. Make sure your students leave your classes and workshops knowing the "rules." Then if they want to break them by using such things as poke berries because, from their own research, they have heard that others do it, it is up to them. They are on their own.
There is so much good food out there, in practically all places and at practically all seasons of the year, that others have experimented on and determined to always be safe, that no one will ever go hungry by using it. Plan ahead for winter, and store greens in the dry powdered form so that you can get your vitamins and minerals from them all year round.
Another contribution from the Whatever it is worth department.
Peter A. Gail
5 comments:
Great article. We are researching the plants around our place. It is a shame we have lost a couple of generations who even think about the value of the plants that grow under our feet (and noses)! Thank you!
I am 71 years old and have not worn sunscreen much in my life. I had some little sores on my face not very noticeable except that I bought a 30x mirror a couple of years ago and noticed these places. I tried a variety of treatments, Vit. E, some salves that were prescription for insect bites, rashes, etc. After surfing the net, I decided to put poke berry juice on the places at night. As you might imagine it was quite colorful. By the next day there was improvement and the lesions that were a year or so old healed in a few days. That's been about 6 months ago and they are still gone.The juice did not burn or itch. It sort of looked like paint when it dried. I have a grey mare. She had warts and lesions. Some of the lesions were near her vulva. The poke berry juice cleared those up also in a few days. Most of the warts came off in a few days. She had extensive damage to her nose and her eye. This is still an ongoing project, but the poke berry juice seems to be the best treatment. She does not act like it burns or hurts. I live in southern middle Tennessee and poke berries are plentiful here. I still have some in the freezer and will have more next year. If anyone is interested in discussing this I would be glad to hear from you.
I accidentally mistook poke berries for elder berries. I made some jelly (that turned out surprisingly tasty) before figuring out what I had picked was not elder berries. I've been eating this jelly every day for about a week (with the seeds). I've not felt sick at any point. I am now wondering if there is any long term effect I should look for (are my kidney's going to fail down the road due to my consumption?), or is it possible that they are no longer poisonous after having been boiled? Let me know if you have the knowledge to tell me if I need to see a doctor, or if I can continue eating the Jelly (Kidding - I have stopped eating it).
I am new to this blog. We built a home on 17 acres of woods, wild plants and just this summer a plant grew to a huge size that is about 8' in diameter. I didn't know what it was till tonight. Reading this blog and others it seems there are many thoughts on whether you can make for instance jelly out of the berries. Has anyone done this and if so: reactions, recipes, if you use a jelly bag you could capture the nasty little seeds. Thoughts?
As long as you don't bite the seeds. They will pass through your system.
I eat the berries to for arthritis but you swallow never chew. Next time you make jelly be careful.
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