Diane Monico

C Lungpin wrote:

Diane Monico wrote: I harvest the young shoots which make excellent pickles

Do you have pickle recipe that you can share? I'm looking for a good one.

This one is simple, but the knotweed stays crisp and not slimy:

FERMENTED PICKLED KNOTWEED

1 qt Mason Jar
2 C water
2 T Kosher Salt
Seasoning according to your taste:
4-5 sprigs Fresh Dill
1-2 Garlic cloves
1 tsp Black Pettercorns
1-2 Hot Chilis
2 strips Lemon Zest
Prickly Ash Berries (Wild Szechuan Peppercorns)

1. Cut knotweed shoots into 3-4 pieces,
toss with seasoning, and pack into jar.
Mix Salt and Water and pour over contents of jar.

2. Screw on lid and leave out.
Occasionally open to burp.
The knotweed will sour in a few days and develop
good flavor after a few days at room temp.
They can be refrigerated or stored at room temp.

3. Take out and cut to shape, or can cut them into
rounds before putting in jar.

Japanese knotweed provides biomass, shades the creek and pond, provides a home for the tree frogs, and a protected area for nesting birds. I harvest the young shoots which make excellent pickles, or puree and use them in any recipe you would use rhubarb. Makes excellent thickener when cooked and can combine with apples or other fruit for pies. When they grow a bit taller I cut the stalks halfway down and put them on the dry parts of my property where their large leaves and water-filled stalks provide shade and moist mulch. (They won't grow in dry areas from the stalks or leaves--only if you have the roots along they might try to root in wet areas.) These cuttings eventually dry up and I crumble them into the soil to add biomass plus whatever nutrients they have pulled up from their former riverside location. I only cut down the knotweed that is shading the native willows and other trees and plants, and then I leave some lower in height to shade the roots of the other trees. During the heat of summer I can go into my maze of 8-ft high tunnels of knotweed and experience about 10 degrees cooler temperatures, and know that it is helping the salmon who need the river cooler. Otherwise there would just be sun-baked rocks along the shore of the river instead of the knotweed providing shade and moisture from its leaves which helps the ferns and an abundance of native plants to survive. In the summer and fall when it is flowering, the bees love it, and a local merchant even sells knotweed honey. When the stalks dry in the fall, I collect them and use the 8-ft poles around the perimeter of my garden. I break others into foot-long pieces and make garden paths. Just before winter I collect the brown, starting-to-decay dry stalks and break them into small pieces and add them to build up my garden soil for texture and mulch. The rest I or the winter storms eventually knock down at the shoreline, where they decay and add nutrients into all the rock crevasses to feed the other native plants. As an added bonus, Japanese knotweed root contains resveratrol and helps with the symptoms of Lyme disease.

Lower Nehalem Community Trust located in Nehalem, Oregon, USA is seeking a manager for their Alder Creek Farm Community Garden.

See notice here:
https://mailchi.mp/5442e6998f03/columbia-employee-store-discount-7077725?e=eeab148cea

For more info, see website: Nehalemtrust.org