Welcome back to the Lost In the Farmer’s Market blog. As some of you have noticed the blog has taken on a more formal instructional tone to cover the wide variety of forage foods that you can find all around you. This change came about due to the events of the pandemic, economic turmoil and other factors. The reality is that we are surrounded with perfectly edible plants that can fill at least some of the void in our dietary needs but, there is a multi-million dollar herbicide industry that exists. It has always been in the interest of that industry to label certain things ‘weeds’ so they can sell you product that as time goes by we find out is worse for your health than the weeds are. Coupled with an Agricultural-Education system that peddles the myths of the industry and the old myth that if you can afford a nice lawn you must have wealth we have a population that has been fooled for a long time. So, here we are in 2023, and the forage foods series will continue. I hope all of you who read this blog find the information useful or at least thought provoking. The ‘weeds’ I am listing a certainly found in Zone 8A in North Carolina and should certainly be easy to find in the Southeast regions of America. Oh, and one funny thing discovered in last year’s blog, it turns out you can eat Crab Grass, and while it isn’t what most would call a lawn grass, I did state you can’t eat your lawn in last year’s intro. Detailed research is a funny thing since it has a way of proving even the experts wrong.
No matter what sort of gardening impulse you have do NOT willingly plant this in your yard, you will regret it. This plant is SUPER-INVASIVE. 
Here's a closeup on the 'canes', they're hollow like actual bamboo, and never fully harden making them worthless for building stuff. 
Note the alternate leaf pattern and that a single 'cane' can produce offshoots. 
The foliage isn't bad looking, the reddish stems are a nice contrast to the bright green foliage, shame this plant is evil. 
Here is a picture featuring the flowers, they aren't showy but they will help you ID this plant.
Common Name: Japanese Knotweed
Other Common Names: Mexican Bamboo
Botanical Family: Polygonaceae (The Buckwheat Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Reynoutria japonica
Author’s note: Japanese knotweed has had several scientific name changes over the last few decades; I first encountered it under the scientific name Polygonum cuspidatum** but apparently by 2010 or so it had been renamed Fallopia compacta/ F. japonica, and since then it has been renamed again.
Description & Habitat: Japanese Knotweed is commonly found in vacant lots, along roadsides and in dumping sites. It has a preference for being near bodies of water and will crowd out other plant life alongside streams. This plant is an introduced invasive that is quite hard to kill as even a small fragment of root can potentially reconstitute the entire mass with time. In the UK, the sale of property has ended in a lawsuit because the prior owners not telling the new owners of a Japanese Knotweed infestation. This weed is some serious business, so do not bring it into your yard! Japanese Knotweed is a large semi-herbaceous (depends on climate) perennial herb that forms dense colonies and mainly spreads by stolons. Its leaves are roughly heart shaped and borne alternately on somewhat arching stems.
When & What to Harvest: Harvest the young soft shoots as they appear.
Poisonous Lookalikes: None known.
Related Edible Species: Giant Knotweed (P. sachilinense)
Recipe: So there are a few recipies for this plant’s young shoots but the most interesting one I’ve seen comes from Elias & Dykeman where they recommend making a sauce out of the shoots.
“Combine 4 cups of peeled and cut shoots, 1 cup of sugar and nutmeg. Simmer until soft. Serve either hot or cold.”
*The ‘Manual of Herbaceous Ornamental Plants’ by Steven M Stills lists Japanese Knotweed as this as does ‘Edible Wild Plants’ by Thomas S. Elias & Peter A. Dykeman.
With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 9:00 am and 2:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.
Spring Garden Plants:
Broccoli, Imperial
Collards, Variegated
Kale, Beira
Kale, Lacinato ‘Black Magic’
Kale, Redbor
Mustard, Japanese Red Giant
Sorrel, Raspberry Dressing
Spring Herbs:
Hoan Ngoc
Warm-Season Vegetables:
Peppers, Ghost
Tomato, Sweet 100
Tomato, San Marzano
Coming Soon:
Celery, Pink
Marshmallow
Milkweed, (Three types!)
Molokhia
Okra, Jing Orange
Okra, Baby Bubba
Okra, Burgundy
Orach, Red
Pepper, Orange Fatalii
Pepper, Lemon Drop
Tomato, Chocolate Cherry
Tomato, Lemon Drop
Tomato, Paul Robeson
Wonderberry
How to stay in Contact with Us!
Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.
Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville
Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:
The Videos: Look Here
>Newest videos (3): - Cotton Processing, Lamb’s Ear Clean up, Hoan Ngok update (Short videos)
Meetings are still going on! We now meet at LeClair’s General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on April 20th between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.
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