Mathew (OK) on 01/22/2024
Jane MNT (Fairfax) on 12/04/2020
I ate boiling leaves with soy sauce or made soup with tofu. It was delicious without spending a penny. I enjoyed picking them at the park, courthouse, mountain ....wherever I spotted them growing wild on .....
Sarah (Georgia) on 10/29/2018
Picture of Poke 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~
Mama To Many (Tn) on 03/25/2017
I made a pokeberry tincture last fall just to have on hand. I have taken a drop at a time in water.
I haven't noticed anything yea or nay yet with the pokeberries. But I mostly forget to take them and don't really have anything I am trying to treat. I just like to try things out on myself to understand them better. I have used a drop of tincture or whole berry daily for at least a couple of weeks at a time and it hasn't killed me yet.
The dose makes the poison. Poke is toxic if used incorrectly, but that is the same with nearly everything. You can die from drinking too much water all at once!
~Mama to Many~
Peach Fit (Midwest) on 03/25/2017
"Poke sallet" or salad is made from the leaves and even those have to be cooked thoroughly and drained to be consumed.
http://www.poison.org/articles/2012-aug/pokeberries-and-grapes-look-alike
Pokeberries for Gout and Joint Pains Joyce (Tn.) on 01/08/2017
Pick your pokeberries (poke sallet) next fall. Great for all joint pains. My brother had a bad attack of gout and hobbling with a walker. Said doctor told him he would have to live with it because he had nothing else to try. Picked him a bag of ripe pokeberries and carried to him. Had a little trouble in talking him into eating asparagus also, because he said the doctor told him it was bad for the gout. My reply was it was bad for the gout but it was good for him. Two days later with about 15 to 20 pokeberries 4 times per day and plenty of asparagus, he was walking without limping, without pain and without the walker.
When you have a bumper crop of pokeberries, just dehydrate the excess that you can't use while fresh and ripe. For those who want to get more sophisticated and make a pokeberry tincture or extract, just google "how do I make a herbal extract or tincture. Basic rule of thumb is two most common diluents is alcohol and vinegar. Fresh herb is equal parts of herb to diluent. Using dehydrated herb use ratio of 2 parts diluent to one part dehydrated herb.
Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 10/23/2016
I will get the rest of this story as I have written about poke berry extract helping arthritis in the past. This is a wild plant that grows all over the South.
Dang, I may even start growing it at our little farm.
=======ORH==========
Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 04/28/2016
I am not an expert on the subject and will ask Mama to Many to send ya'll to school on this wild plant. I'll bet she has a recipe that will have you fit as a fiddle in no time.
Lots of folks will tell you that the Poke Berries are poisonous, but only if you eat crush the seeds. A local freezes the berries and eats them year round for his Arthritis.
Years ago they even wrote a song called Poke Salad Annie and if this does not have you patting your foot, then you too far gone for EC 's brightest to help you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRF24LY5pvw
ATS,,,,, ======ORH=======
Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 02/26/2015
I do this with sandpaper on my garden melon seeds. They sprout PDQ. That's the way nature works. You got to break the hull.
I tell you this because lots of folks in my neighborhood eat Poke Berries to help their arthritis. Poke berries are supposed to be poisonous, but only if you eat crush the seed. Birds love these berries. One guy I know freezes them and eats them all year long for his health problem. He just poops the seeds out as the birds do.
ATS=======ORH===========
Penny (Phoenix, Az) on 07/28/2010
Robert (Buford, Ga) on 07/24/2009
Sarah (Monrovia, Ca) on 10/20/2008
Patty (Houston, TX) on 10/07/2008
Chris (Monteagle, Tn. USA) on 10/02/2008
I live in the Tennessee mountains where theres lots of Poke Salad, one treatment as prescribed above and boy, could I tell a difference. They seem to be almost completely gone, and man, did it itch for about five minutes...I could tell them little boogers was hatin' life. I'm sure I'll have to do it a couple more times, thats all right its free!. I spent close to a hundred bucks in less than three weeks without results, when God provided the cure for free right out my back door So, do it.... Man am I happy. Thank you.
Joyce's Pokeweed Remedy for Gout Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 07/25/2008
"To Joyce from Joelton,Tn. Gout: What is the method used with Pokeweed for Gout? Do you make a paste and wrap the foot, or do you ingest them? Please advise? What are the exact measurements for this herb?"
I started doing this by putting berries in l gallon jug and using enough Vodka to just cover the berries. Put tight lid on and let set a week or two, moving jug around a little every two to three days. After that, just strain off the liquid and store in brown or green bottles. Beer bottles work fine for storage. (You can also use your potato masher (or whatever you have) to kind of sqush those pokeberries before straining the liquid off.
For those of you who are interested in doing your own herbs, when using fresh herbs your ratio is l:l. If using dehydrated herbs the ratio is l part herb to 2 parts diluent.
I can't remember where I read it, but I do recall reading that you shouldn't treat children under l2 with poke, because it hastened the setting of the long bones (arms & legs). There might be something to this because my family ate a lot of poke sallet and many of us have normal size bodies but short arms and legs. I might also add that most references recommend parboiling through 3 waters before ingesting, but my family (and others that I know who ate their share of it) only parboiled through one water (water discarded) before proceeding to finish cooking it and eating it.
Susan (Charleston, WV) on 07/20/2008
I had them once and lucky for me, read in the paper the same day what to do to get rid of them.
I dug up the roots of Poke Greens that is plentiful in my area.
I boiled the roots for 5 minutes. Just 3 or 4 small sprigs of roots is enough in a small pot.
Got in the shower and after it was cool enough, splashed the Poke tea all over me and Scabies popped out all over me. Itches like crazy but left it on as long as I could stand it about 3 minutes.
Then greased myself with crisco all over and the itching stopped. I waited about ten minutes and washed off the crisco and never had another scabie. It worked for me. But it's not easy going through it because of the itching.
Susan
