Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 08/07/2017
Poke is tall now in TN; some plants are 6 feet tall!
This picture shows the bright magenta berry stem. Most of these berries have been picked clean by the birds. They will digest all but the seeds and then pass the seeds along for new poke plants next spring. The seed is the most dangerous part.
The green berries are not ripe. The deep purple berries are ripe. Some people will swallow a berry a day and let the seed pass through (the seed is the most toxic part, other than the root.) The berry a day is for arthritis.
Poke root tincture is used by some for Lyme disease, a DROP at a time. (Not a dropperful.)
Poke root oil is used for breast tumors.
In the spring the leaves used to be boiled in three changes of water for a "tonic" food. If the plant is taller than a foot, the plants are too old to harvest the leaves, so they say.
Poke berries make a fun homemade ink for children, with supervision of course.
Poke is a perfect example of "the dose makes the poison." Poke is classified as poisonous, but when used carefully by those who know what they are doing it can be a great benefit.
~Mama to Many~
Replied By Dave (Fountain Inn, Sc) on 08/08/2017
You didn't mention in your medicinal review of Polk, that you can EAT it....it is so good. Young leaves as you describe, cooked like you would spinach. Yum. With cornbread of course. (NOT older leaves which apparently begin to turn toxic. Once I nibbled on an older leaf...just a bare taste, and got a bit nauseous.)
Replied By Robert Henry (Ten Mile , Tn) on 08/08/2017
======ORH=======
Replied By Mama To Many (Tn) on 08/09/2017
Believe it or not, I took that picture yesterday! I am surprised that though we are in the same state our growing conditions are a bit different here, at least this year.
I found out today that free ranging chickens can help with the poisonous snake population. My kids and their friends are building a fort today. One of the friends noticed a very large worm in one of our chicken's mouths. Upon further inspection, they realized it was a small copperhead. The chicken ate its head off. (Sorry to be graphic.) These are older chickens. They don't lay many eggs but they are sure earning their keep in pest control. They are also entertaining.
~Mama to Many~
Replied By Dave (Fountain Inn, Sc) on 08/09/2017
That's not how I've eaten it. With a young leaf you do just like any other green. If a little older to be safe, I'd do as you say. I've eaten young Polk many times without multiple boiling and pour off. The trick is .... the leaves must be YOUNG. With no sign of stalk turning color to that reddish tint which evidences an older plant.
Replied By Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 08/10/2017
Replied By Robert Henry (Ten Mile , Tn) on 08/10/2017
Took a bushel of tomatoes to church Sunday and folks loaded up. We offered them apples and pears at our little farm this Saturday. Got a feeling that few will show up 'cause they have to pick um. Hope they prove me wrong.
Reminds me of an ole tale about a traveler who came to a cross road and there was a fella from Ten Mile lying in the shade of a tree. The traveler ask which way to Knoxville and the fella raised his leg and pointed his toe to the right fork. The traveler said, " if you can do a lazier stunt than than that, I'll give you a half dollar". The local said, " put it in my pocket". That about sums it up about folks this day and time. " PUT IT IN MY POCKET".
My Tractor Driver thought that when we retired, we would just coast out. She is finally convinced that we would have been dead a long time ago if we had done that. You have to have a reason to keep on keeping on. We do what we do because if it were not Kim Jong-un, it would be somebody else, so we are getting prepared.
=====ORH=====