You Southerners out there know about kudzu, but many of the rest of us have never heard of the stuff. It's an ornamental vine imported from Asia generations ago, in the 1930's to be precise, which has taken over many areas of the South. It has actually earned the nickname "the vine that ate the South." It overwhelms wherever it grows and covers up trees, homes, cars, telephone poles, and more.

Did you know it was also edible? I had heard this was so a few years ago, but since this was after I had finished my several year sojourn in rural Georgia I haven't had the chance to try it. I've wanted to quite a bit since one of my favorite hobbies is foraging for wild edible and medicinal plants.

I just read a great little article on eating kudzu. Kudzu is related to the pea and can be prepared in many ways. The young shoots are tender and tasty. They can be used in salads and cooked as greens like spinach. The young leaves can be treated like collard greens, the flowers can be used to make great jellies, and mature leaves can be fried like potato chips to make a crispy and tasty snack.

Honey that bees make from kudzu is exceptionally sweet and tasty. The root can be dried and powdered and then used as a thickener for soups and stews as you would cornstarch or gumbo file powder. This root powder supposedly has medicinal properties. (Martha Stewart lists it as a hangover helper.)

There are tons of ways to prepare kudzu and many people who swear by it. Which is better than those who are trying to remove it from their property. Those folks tend to just swear AT it. If you decide to forage for your own fresh kudzu there are a few things to be aware of. Many areas are trying to kill off the kudzu through the use of herbicides. Only collect it from places that you are sure haven't been sprayed. Also do not collect from near roadsides. Besides roadside spraying of herbicides, the plants may be unsafe from pollution and oil from motor vehicles, and chemicals from the road surface. Always collect wild edibles in a safe way and wash them well. Make sure that you can positively identify what you are collecting. It wouldn't be good to confuse a toxic plant with an edible one.