Photo Above: Pokeweed growing in Floyd County, Virginia. © Bruce Ingram.
Pokeweed is one of the wild plants that is most associated with the Blue Ridge Region. Phytolacca decandra, which also goes by the names ink berry, poke sallet and pokeberry, has long been considered both a subsistence plant and a spring tonic. However, its roots and seeds are extremely toxic to humans and the leaves and berries are poisonous as well, especially when eaten raw. For a perspective on poke, I contacted Clay Morris, Professor of Appalachian Food Ways for Shepherd University and forager for Ashby Gap Adventures (540-955-7179).
“Pokeweed is a plant you should not eat unless you know how to properly cook it or if you know the person who is cooking it is qualified to do so,” he says. “When I was growing up in West Virginia, Martha Washington, an African-American who knew the folkways of the region, served as my foraging mentor.
“Every year in early spring, she would gather the new, 6-to-12-inch shoots of pokeweed, which sort of look like Belgian endive and are emerald green and lance-shaped. Then she would heat up three pots of boiling water on a stove and blanch those leaves for two minutes in each pot. Next, she placed the leaves in a hot skillet and sautéed them with bacon grease and scrambled eggs.”
The result, continues Morris, was a spring tonic that was loaded with minerals and iron, as well as being a natural de-wormer.
Bruce and Elaine Ingram have a new edition of Living the Locavore Lifestyle out. For more information: bruceingramoutdoors@gmail.com.
