Japanese Knotweed

If Emerson was right about weeds just being plants without their purpose discovered, then I need help discovering.
I've read that this bumper-crop of Japanese knotweed could be eaten (always my first choice with volunteer plants), but it's very high in oleac (sp?) acid--the stuff that makes the leaves of rhubarb poisonous. I don't see any verified medicinal uses, the poultry won't touch it... All of the online info says the evil "R" word (R**** Up).

What animals eat it? What works to kill it? HELP!

--Chaya

http://www.pantryparatus.com

Bees like it - knotweed honey is delicious

Hi!
I have the same problem. I just recognized it as a problem this year...and now the patch of knotweed is getting out of control. In my research it looks like it's ok to eat when it's about 4-6 inches high, after that it's too tough. In my experience, after it gets to be 2 feet or taller, it's too tough, . The best recommendation I found takes awhile, it is to smother it with heavy tarps. To do this you need to get the old sharp stalks out or they'll pierce your tarp. The website that talked about this, said it would take a couple years, and to go ahead and put a raised bed garden right on top of the tarp. My patch is in a difficult spot to tarp, so I'm tarping as well as mowing it off multiple times, and mowing it really well. Because as you probably already know it can sprout from quite a small piece if it doesn't dry out quick enough. There was a cool recipe for knotweed fruit leather...and even cooler a recipe for making the taller knotweed into paper. Yep, Knotweed paper, and it looked pretty easy. So it is a multi-useful 'weed'. Lots of things contain oxalic acid. The stems of the rhubarb, wood sorrel, yellow dock....it's the concentration of it that matters. All these things in moderation and you'll be fine, and your tongue can even be your guide. Who really wants to eat more than 2 stems of rhubarb a day? Or even that many?
Aya

A near neighbor had very good luck in that he had a hillside that was held firmly in place on his property by 20 yrs worth of Knotweed. His neighbors dealt with slumping
hill sides. Later, after a mixed bunch of Hardwoods volunteered on this hillside he decided to get rid of his Knotweed. TWO layers of black plastic cooked and blocked sun
-light to the knotweed, the second year he covered the black plastic with stone chips in the spring. This hill side is now 6 years Knotweed free while the new neighbors on
ether side are now trying to kill knotweed on a slumping hillside ! Think like fire, flo like gas ! Pyro-maticly Big AL !

i actually love j knotweed, but when we had our housefire we lost most of it..and I've tried re establishing it and it is fighting me..i have two areas where a little of it will grow, but not the huge stands we had before our housefire..wierd eh?

it is good to eat when very very very young..just the shoots.

it is also wonderful for the critters when in flower..(wonder if those flowers would make fritters?)..

I just started taking the leaves and using it to make compost and drying the stalk to make mulch.

It is right across my fence about 6ft tall and trying so hard to invade my garden.