Yes, they are pretty and we have that "stuff" everywhere.

It must be all over this big country too because we had it in Ohio as well.

I've never eaten it though....after what you said, don't think I'll try

I wrote about pokeweed a few years ago, Shoe. You musta missed it 'cause if you'd read it you would've known you needed to wear your asphidity bag all th' time when fooling around with poke. Chances are it would've kept you outta the outhouse when you ate it, too.

Do I have to keep reminding you of everything?

And don't forget the tattoos the berries can make. They last a long long time.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/...

Heheh, well, I don't have an asphidity bag but I'm sure I can muster up something in its place! Looking at your link I DO remember that story! Thanks for the reminder. Gosh, can't believe it's been since 2008 when you wrote that; time flies.

Rereading it, now you have me staring at the roots of pokeweed, wondering dare I make a salve or a small bottle of "drop-at-a-time".

As for tattoos, my hands keep poke color for quite a while, just not in designs. And earlier this year my DD, Alex, used poke berries to dye a shirt she had. Not sure if she ever figured out how to set the dye but I know that bucket of shirt and purple/pink water sat on the kitchen counter for weeks.

Vic, eat yer pokeweed, at least once! You'll be fine.
Shoe

I learned to eat pokeweed after I married Jack. His family cooked it with
home curred ham chunks and onions I think. Of course that was after it
had been precooked, drained, and rinsed at least once before adding the
ham and onion bits. Then it was slow cooked most of the morning or
afternoon for the next meal.

I altered the method of cooking a bit for the sake of health. I use most
sizes of leaves. I only use the most tender stems and cut out the center
part of the larger leaves. Even the top ones which are small and tender
with no bitter or acidic taste can be used. Remove any seeds which have started to
form if you use these just to be on the safe side. Then I chop the leaves,
boil for a minute or 2, drain, rinse and return to pan. To about a pint of
water I add a tsp. or so of liquid smoke flavoring and some seasoned
salt or hickory smoke flavored salt. Pour over the precooked greens and
return to a slow simmer. Add some turkey bacon or very lean ham and
some chopped onions and maybe even some garlic. Turn off heat after
about 3 - 5 min. and let it set for a while before serving. Of course you can
adjust this recipe to suit yourself.

If you keep the plants trimmed back all season you will have a continual
supply of tender young leaves to eat.

The birds love to perch in the poke'trees' even during the winter. I always
leave a few to grow to such large proportions just for the birds.

As digging out a large older poke plant can be as hard as digging out a well
established tree I have learned to just cut the trunk off at the ground and
treat it with Tordon & diesel fuel mixed 1:1.

GOD bless and keep each of you. 'Shoe, thanks for writing about poke
weed.

Howdy leaflady/Eva Mae, nice to see you!

Thanks for the poke cookin' directions, fine-tuned.

You're the second person in a month to mention "hickory smoked seasoning" or "hickory smoked salt". I've never used it but have recently bought a bottle of liquid smoke. (Used it in a crock pot pork bbq dish but think I should've used more for extra flavor.) I better keep looking for the smoked salt stuff. Hmm, maybe I can smoke my own salt, eh? I love to smoke turkey legs on the grill; they're perfect for adding to a pot of collards.

Hope ya'll are cooling down up there, it's been a rough summer for us all, eh?

Again, nice to see ya!
Shoe