I tried one day to eat the root of this plant and I'll never forget, with only one bite a vomited my entire ancestry from the deepest of my stomach, never again never again 😂😂
Had it fed to me in September with about a dozen others. Just a taste, no ill effects from a fork or two. Most of us were kinda pissed when she came back and said didn't read the part about only spring before the stems are red and it is aggressively poisonous. We were all camping and she walked through offering it to everyone. Admittedly, she is into mycology and much more trusted there.
Nice that you did a video on pokeweed because I had one on my property and did not know it. So you helped me. I did some further research about the edibility. And there are quite many people eating leaves and shoots. Until 2002 there had even been canned sprouts in stores available. I found a chef who served in his restaurant an icecream with the berrie-juice. So the topic about the danger seems to be more complicated.
I've eaten the shoots and young leaves dozens of times. I've always done three changes to water to be really safe, because some sources say that's necessary, but I'm sure the multiple changes of water is way more than necessary, but I've erred on the side of caution. It would probably be better if I didn't overcook it, but I still like it pretty well, and it comes early in the spring before greens from the garden are ready. I also have goats, by the way, that eat the berries, and they don't seem to have any trouble with them at all.
The pokeweed in the eastern United States looks different. The leaves on poke in the eastern USA are generally larger and have a more acuminate leaf. I suspect the German pokeweed plants might have hybridized with other species or possibly originate from a different portion of the species range. The plants do reach a similar size though. It's not just hillbillies that eat poke in early spring, usually wild food enthusiasts these days. Preparation and selection is important. Harvest only meristematic growth, the young shoots in the early spring as they emerge from winter dormancy. Peel these newly-emerged stalks from the bottom up and then boil in 2-3 changes of water, 10 minutes each. Drain the water and then transfer to a skillet to sauté in oil or lard. I eat poke this way every spring. It's a very seasonal food.
Thank you for the info. I doubt it hybridizes with esculenta here but it could come from a different part of the range. In moist shady forests the leaves are bigger, in Italy usually smaller but this might be due to climate
hah, if the rest of my garden grew this easy. This grows massively in my yard. I am constantly pulling it out. I have some that tower 10 foot tall. I keep a bit for the wildlife.
As far as I've seen, it grows quite different depending on shade, sun exposure, climate etc. In a single area it might look as different plants to someone who doesn't know better.
I don't consume it myself but I use the plant as mulch. I never let it fruit. It's great for bio mass in the garden. Old time people here in the south US used to eat it as a cooked greens and consume like one berry a day as "medicine". People that consume it this way are still alive today I believe they build up a kind of tolerance to it. You do have to boil it and drain it like you said. It's a good "survival" plant to know but in the modern day I don't mess with it. The roots are very toxic, I am told.
I used to eat it every spring when I lived in New Jersey. It is really delicious. I always harvested it very young, like 12 inches or 30 cm tall, never peeled it or changed the water, just briefly sauteed it and seasoned it with olive oil or butter, salt and pepper.
Hey I think I ate a bunch of these berries in high school too over a couple years, I think I mistook them for what we called "choke cherries" - they have little seeds in them and are slightly sweet and sour with an astringent taste. No obvious symptoms but I had frequent diarrhea and canker sores around that time and also at one point had what my high school girlfriend described as "pale yellow rings" in the whites of my eyes around the pupils. Probably were choke cherries but definitely could have been pokeweed. I still kind of miss the taste lmao
Highly poisonous? My grandmother ate it routinely her whole life she lived to be 96 and was in poverty her whole life, hence whatever wild, free for the taking, food she could find. Only harvest the tender new shoots early in the year. Boil and change the water a couple of times. I dont see how anyone could eat enough of the poison to be dangerous cause it doesnt taste good at all when it is unfit. I dont know if that "spit that out" flavor is the toxic part or not but if you still taste that in the cooked greens either change the water and boil some more or abandon that batch to the compost heap. Read something a while back about it being studied to help prevent/treat cancer.
@@allthefruit That plant that you showed in this video will come up again next year so now you know exactly where to look in March next year. I would describe that one as a mother plant. With that many stalks it very well may be older than you! If left alone, birds will eat those berries and scatter seed all over. I have seen mockingbirds defend a big one like that cause it is a valuable source of food for them going into winter cause many of the berries will remain on the plant, dried and preserved in winter when food is scarce.. Who knew birds could be farmers? That one plant will make enough seeds to cover a county. Harvest the little, new plants and leave the mother alone. I have known of particular plants that lived for years, maybe decades if someone didnt mow it down twice a year. They seem to do best in the edge of a forest and right along side a rotting log. It really is a beautiful plant and I think the only reason it is not appreciated as an ornamental is the, in my opinion, way overblown threat of toxicity and the temporary staining of surfaces and most importantly the association with poverty. You can lightly boil (blanch) it and freeze some for later. Potato, the 4th most important human food plant on the planet currently, along with tomato that ranks high too were also reputed as being poisonous at one time and some still believe they are, depends on what you do with it. Recalling how the house would smell with a big pot of poke on the stove. Brings back sentimental feelings for grandma's house. Even when I was grown she would nag every spring to get everyone to get a good dose at least once a year. Tune in next week for the highly nutritious, if not toxic, Lambsquarters which is harvested even earlier in the year than Poke. The difference between medicine and poison is the dosage.
While not native to Italy, it's naturalized and my gramps and mom have always picked the young sprouts in the spring. Used to call it "vineyard asparagus". Pretty similar in taste and shape. Changing the water once is fine for the spring sprouts. I've picked it several times because it's everywhere, but I haven't still nailed the right harvesting time and sometimes i had to throw it after boiling. Gotta improve on that. However you can totally taste the poison. It's a itchy nitrite/saponin sensation on the tongue and throat. I don't get how people can accidentally get poisoned, you would notice it after a single morsel. That's not counting kids eating the berries, i wish they were edible.
@@allthefruit as I've written in another comment, I've recently (June) made the mistake to pick up some summer basal shoots. They looked very tasty with a pretty green/violet color like asparagus. Boiled them 4 times then threw them away. I guess the plant is already too active then. I would also guess that purple indicates poison, as in the berries and mature stems.
@@allthefruit By the time the plant starts making a lot of the red coloring that is when you let it go till next year is what I was always told. Certainly long before it is flowering and making berries.
I tried it without the seeds. Tastes super bitter / sour / astringent. Don't really see why people would eat it, it's gross. It grows wild in my garden and the chickens don't eat it even though it's down where they can reach the berries, and they eat blackberries and grapes in the yard... which is interesting because supposedly it's not toxic for birds because it's the seeds that are toxic and they swollow the seeds whole and never chew them so they come out whole safely.
I'm from the West Coast of USA and had never seen it, then i moved to the East Coast and one of these popped up in one of my garden beds, probably planted by squirrels. i let it go for a while to provide shade for another plant, then pulled it and used it for mulch under a tree. thanks for the education.
I figure people tried to dig it out, found out it has these huge, meaty, two meter long roots and decided it would be easier to just eat a bunch and see what happens. (I'm joking don't eat the stuff.)
I've never had a sweet pokeberry. It is native where I'm from and it grows everywhere, so I've tried to make use of it, but don't like the taste of the berries nor does a boiled leaf salad sound appetizing. According to at least one foraging book I have, the berry juice is not toxic, but the seeds are and cannot be made edible by boiling.
I've seen that video and will definitely put into practice next year. It's ok to compare it to collards but i would rather say spinach, to which are actually related. Also from experience i can say spring sprouts are the best, but avoid summer basal shoots, they look just as good but totally nasty and poisonous
