What's So Great About Kudzu?

In the small community where I grew up, we definitely had a love-hate relationship with Kudzu. Kudzu could take over a yard or pasture in a few days, leaving the land owner struggling to either spray or burn the "weed" back to a manageable area. The places where Kudzu was left alone, were covered in a beautiful blanket of greens. I have seen entire junkyards covered in Kudzu.

I've seen it cover houses.

And anything else it comes in contact with.

But Kudzu isn't the nuisance we used to think it was. The Japanese have known it for centuries. There are some serious benefits to this plant - benefits that we should be taking advantage instead of spraying it (and the land it's on) with toxic chemicals.  Some people in my community have made beautiful baskets from Kudzu vine, and jelly from the Kudzu blossom. But there's even more we can do. 

We all know that Kudzu was brought to the South to prevent land erosion - which is does. But it also brings nitrogen to the soil and improves the topsoil with other minerals. Animals and people can eat it. It has been studied by Harvard University as a medicine to decrease alcohol cravings, and it has been used for many years as a cure for hangovers.

It has also been used to treat migraines, cluster headaches, allergies, diarrhea, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

In China it is used to treat tinnitus and vertigo.  In Japan and Vietnam, the ground root is used in many food dishes and teas.

There is ongoing research to use Kudzu in plant based ethanol, clothes, wallpaper, and paper.

So why aren't we out there using this plant that grows wild and free? I think it's just ignorance that keeps us from using something so helpful and plentiful  - and right in front of our faces. (It's the same with Plantain - we mow it down so we can have "beautiful" and useless lawns of grass.)

There's so much information on the internet about uses for Kudzu. So this summer when you are driving around, take a different look at the Kudzu plant. (But please don't pick any that might have been sprayed with pesticide!!!!)

Here is how you can eat Kudzu: